mary e. pearson

A little update from the 105th birthday party yesterday: 

She was as lovely as ever.  Gorgeous in a sparkly dress and darling bobbed haircut.  Her heels were a bit lower this time, but still heels nonetheless, and she was walking around and mingling with the guests like she was 50.  Pamela asked yesterday what her secret was--oh, that we could bottle it--but I would have to say part of it is good genes, and the other part is zest for life.  She never slows down.  A couple years ago she went on a 66 day cruise to Antartica.  And just recently went on one to Iceland and Greenland.  She loves travel and meeting people and being in the middle of a party.  A couple of years ago we took her out to dinner to a Western restaurant and she got up and did a two step with the waiters and waitresses.   Seriously.  She reminds me of that quote:

“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, cigar in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming WOO HOO - What a ride!"

Except that she isn't worn out.  And I don't think she smokes cigars either.  But she sure can yell out, "what a ride!"

In other news, I have recently received quite a few paperback copies of  A Room on Lorelei Street



and I thought I would put them to good use, so if there is a high school librarian or teacher, or anyone else who has a high school age book club or reading group out there and would like a FREE set of 8-12 books, just email me at: maryp2000 AT aol.com.  I am saying high school age because AROLS is probably suited to a more mature audience.

And last but  not least, I will be at Barnes and Noble in Encinitas this Saturday from 2-4 for the La Costa Canyon High School Book Fair.  I will give a short talk and be signing books, so if you are in the area, come by!

Now off to practice my two-step--with martini and cigar in hand . . .

I know this isn't news to most of you. But in my last blog post someone reminded me me that the paperback for A Room on Lorelei Street is out today!    Yikes!

Here's the paperback cover! 



I think the final cover may look a little different than this.  I haven't received my author copies yet (can I use that as an excuse for why it slipped my mind?)  If you see it in a store, let me know!  I hope now that it is in paperback it will get into the hands of even more teens.

Like I mentioned yesterday, we didn't really know for sure where we were going other than our first night in Santa Ynez. For those of you who are not familiar with California, just above Los Angeles is the coastal city of Santa Barbara, and then just above that if you head inland, you will find the small Danish community of Solvang. And then tucked just behind Solvang are the smaller communities of Santa Ynez and Los Olivos.

When I say small, I really mean small--the main streets are not much longer than two school buses put end to end. Of late they have enjoyed a bit of "celebrity" since they were featured in the movie Sideways. But they are still essentially the same small picturesque towns they always were.

The landscape surrounding them is beautiful. My snapshot taken out the window as we were driving doesn't do it justice, but the towns are nestled in golden rolling hills dotted with big beautiful oak trees.

I think a lot of people conjure up pictures of glitz, freeways, Jacuzzis, and concrete when they think of California--and yes we do have that--but that is just a small part of what California is all about.

We stayed the night at a small bed and breakfast in Santa Ynez and the next day we drove to the neighboring town of Los Olivos. We walked up one side of the main street and down the other and peeked in the Fess Parker Inn while we were there. Over the fireplace in the lobby is a picture of a large standard poodle. It seemed a little out of place and I asked someone there about it. It is Fess Parker's poodle. Somehow, I didn't quite picture Fess Parker as being a poodle man. Wouldn't you guess a retriever or a hound dog?

We walked a little farther down the street and came to an eclectic gift shop with new and used items sprawled out onto the sidewalk.




And then . . . what is that?

Do I see what I think I'm seeing?




A purple Adirondack?

Now I know that probably wouldn't catch most people's attention, but I have a serious soft spot for purple Adirondacks. And I've never seen one before! Except in my imagination that is--and in A Room on Lorelei Street. Opal, one of the characters in the story, had one in her garden. An old, much painted over Adirondack, that was now currently purple. For me it continues to be a symbol of nourishment and taking a moment to refresh your soul and dreams.

I SO wanted that Adirondack to take home with me, but 1) it was expensive, and 2) it wouldn't fit in our tiny car.

But seeing it was enough. It made me smile.

And then there were the Main Street cats that made me smile too, but I will post that tomorrow . . .

The June 2008 issue of VOYA has a list of teen books that will appeal to adults as well as teens. I was happy to see A Room on Lorelei Street listed, and a whole slew of other LJ'ers books:

Laurie Halse Anderson halseanderson
Libba Braylibba_bray
Sara Zarrsarazarr
Alex Flinnalixwrites
Sarah Dessenwritergrl
Gail Gilesnotjazz

In another recent article, David Levithan, editor and author, speaks about teen books appealing to adults too.

I am really happy to see YA books--any books for that matter--crossing age boundaries.

I will be the guest at the ALAN Book Club chat
tonight 9 ET, 6 PT, and chatting about A ROOM ON LORELEI STREET (among other things??) so if you get a chance, come yak!

I will be speaking at the San Diego chapter of the SCBWI for their Kickoff Meeting of the season. I will be talking about navigating the ups and downs of the writing world, keys to growing as a writer, and a little bit about the writing of A Room on Lorelei Street.

So . . . on the very remote chance that some of you out there are actually in the vicinity tomorrow, I hope you will come and say hello.

Well, this was a lovely way to start my Monday morning.

Jen Robinson's review of A Room on Lorelei Street was a very nice surprise. I especially loved this line:
"This is a book that will make you think. About the connections between people. About what kids need from their parents. About what makes some people keep going, while others give up. About where responsibilities to family end, and responsibility to self beings." Thanks, Jen!

And in other news, I have to say: I lied.
My apologies to halseanderson. I commented on her blog that I loved hot weather. Well, ahem, I guess I didn't know what real hot weather was. 70 and 80 degreee days with no humidity is not hot. BUT . . this past Saturday, with 100 degree temps and 100% humidity I think I learned more about hot than I ever wanted to know. Each day since has gotten cooler (or maybe my steamed skin has just lost all feeling) I think today is only supposed to be 95 with 100% humidity. whoopee.

At least I have learned a lesson to choose my words carefully. Sort of. A while back I gloated happily when I had the last empty seat on a plane next to me and the flight attendants were closing up the hatches. I joked to my husband, "With my luck, a big linebacker will take this last seat." Then, I swear, the most enormous man I have ever seen started walking down the aisle toward me. I thought, no, no way is he going to fit in this seat. He must be here to push the plane or something. But, sit he did. By the end of the flight I felt like I was a growth attached to his shoulder. (But he was a very pleasant seat mate) And as it turns out, he WAS a linebacker. What are the chances?? Yes, I need to be a little more careful about what I say . . .

I love cold weather . . . I love cold weather . . .

A mighty big thanks to Texas teachers and librarians.
A Room on Lorelei Street has been named to the Texas TAYSHAS 2006-2007 Reading List. On their site they explain that . . . TAYSHAS' takes its name from the Caddo Indian word meaning "friends or allies."

And just after I learned about the Texas list I got an email that AROLS was also named as part of the 2006 California Collection. Thank you to the California teachers and librarians too!

In other news, I got my Christmas lights up yesterday. Now this may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but this is a record for me. I am not an early holiday person at all (unlike lstolarz who has to be an organizational goddess!) So I might not get anything else done until a few days before Christmas, but I can brag to my already shopped and wrapped relatives that I had my lights up in November. I guarantee it will never happen again.

And any good MG recommendations? I have to confess my MG reading has been almost nonexistent of late, and I have a friend who is looking for MG gift ideas for girls.

And now . . .back to work.

I see that Kerry Madden is here at LJ as mountainmist. Kerry is the author of Gentle’s Holler which I have been hearing fabulous things about. And if you haven’t been to her website, check it out. It is SO cool. Be sure you have your sound turned up.

YA Goddess, Teri Lesesne, aka as professornana had some very nice thoughts about A Room on Lorelei Street that really made my day.

Yesterday I had to get a little organized about my wip. You know when you get to that point where there is so much “stuff” you are trying to remember, that you feel like you are totally overwhelmed? So I went through it page by page, jotting notes, creating a loose map and I feel like I have a better handle now about what has happened and will happen. Onward.

For those of you who are wilting in the summer heat, I will leave you with this very “cool” picture:



Have a great–and too cool–weekend.

The ringing phone woke me at 5 am this morning. I think I was waiting for that ring all night long. A new baby girl has joined our family. My niece and baby are both healthy and doing well. After yakking with my sister-in-law about all the details I managed to get back to sleep for an hour or so. And then as if my day hadn’t already had enough good news, I woke for a second time to more! I had an email from a friend that she had sold her first book! I can’t give details because she hasn’t even announced it herself yet. But I will as soon as I can!

On the writing front, I learned unexpectedly that I will have an early signing of A ROOM ON LORELEI STREET!



My publisher has me scheduled to be on a YA panel next Tuesday! So, if you will be in the Huntington Beach, CA vicinity on April 19, come on by. The panel discussion will be at the Barnes & Noble at 7881 Edinger Avenue. I will be presenting with four other YA novelists with new books out: Jennifer Kogler, RUBY TUESDAY, Melissa de la Cruz, FRESH OFF THE BOAT, Evan Cooper, UM, LIKE... OM!: A GIRL GODDESS TO YOGA, and Natasha Friend, PERFECT. I think it is going to be a lot of fun. I love doing things with other writers.

I also found out that the Reading Group Guide for AROLS is now up and available at the Henry Holt website. Thanks, cawriter for telling me this!

I have a special fondness for adirondacks. When I was growing up, we had one in my back yard. My father made it, perhaps from a kit, more likely just out of his head. He was handy with wood and tools. Over the years, it was painted over and over. One summer it might be brown. A few summers later green. Still later, white. But with all the use there were the inevitable chips and paint from earlier seasons would show through here and there. I liked those little chips of color.

If you happened to have read, A Room on Lorelei Street, you may have noticed a well seasoned adirondack in the story. One of those times where a bit of real life seeps in to a story. With the wonderful weather and sunshine, yes, sunshine, I’ve been thinking how nice it would be to have that old adirondack chair again–maybe with a fresh coat of purple-- to sit in and soak up some of that sunshine this weekend. All I have are Costco aluminum chairs. It’s just not the same.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Wonder of wonders–I am actually setting aside ice cream and top tens to talk about what I do.

I got a neat package in the mail yesterday! It’s a beautiful four-color Reading Group Guide for A ROOM ON LORELEI STREET.




I love it! The questions are wonderful–open ended and sure to provoke discussion! It’s written by Susan Geye, a library media specialist in Texas. (Thank you Susan!) If there are any teachers or librarians out there who want one let me know. (And I still have one ARC sitting on my desk which is making me feel a bit guilty . . . )

Other cool news! I just heard that AROLS was nominated for BBYA! It won’t be out until June but this is a nice bit of news to tide me over.

Now if this rain would just let up, it would be a sunny day all the way around . . .