SEA GLASS was released in the United Kingdom in January 2010! And I spent 10 days in the UK on a mini book tour to help promote the release. I had a fantastic time! Details and pictures are posted below the super cool widget the lovely ladies in MIRA Book's UK office created.
Check out this SEA GLASS widget - it's full of fun extras that you won't find anywhere else :)
My tour started on an off note. I arrived at Washington Dulles airport at 7 am for my 9:45 am flight to London and check in only to discover my flight was delayed 9 Hours! Yep 9 whole hours due to a mechanical problem that wouldn't be fixed in time for the curfew at Heathrow. Not much I could do but wait around the airport. If you ever find yourself in this situation, there are a number of things you can do to pass the time.
For example, you can:
walk slow to annoy those who are dashing for their flights.
browse in the book store so long you learn all the names of the staff.
count the number of times they play the "can I have your attention" announcement about keeping bags close (12 times in one hour - and each time they played it, I kept hoping for them to say something different. Didn't happen).
watch currency exchange board and try to make money buying and selling foreign currency (3 hours of work netted me a whooping 20 cents).
pose with cardboard blowup of the First Lady, Michelle Obama (see picture below :)
Instead of arriving in London at 10 pm Friday night, I arrived at 6:15 am Saturday, having supposedly slept while we flew over the Atlantic - didn't happen. In order not to get too jet lagged, I stayed awake and toured the Tower of London and the Tower bridge. The Tower of London had a Henry VIII exhibit "Dressed to Kill" that was really cool and I saw the crown jewels. My favorite piece was the Royal Sceptre with Cross which has the 530-carat Star of Africa diamond on it. Pictures are below.
As you can see the typical England weather didn't disappoint - it was cold and rainy. But the up side...no lines. The guidebook warns that visitors to the Tower of London will have to stand in long lines - not in January baby! The Tower Bridge is the classic photo op - as recognizable as Big Ben. I thought it was neat that I could see the Thames below through the seam in the bridge.
After sleeping 15 hours, it was Sunday and in honor of the day of the week, the sun came out (the only sunny day of the trip!). I hopped on the Underground and visited the British Museum. The museum has the best Egyptian collection outside Egypt. In order to see everything, I needed weeks and not hours. But in the time I had, I saw the Rosetta Stone (the real thing - not the language software company)!
Movie Night with Murder One Books was my first event of the tour on Monday. It was a blast. I met Trisha Telep finally and I signed books, read an excerpt, did a Q&A, and watched Hero on the big screen. A great time was had by all :)
Visiting St. Mary's was the highlight for Tuesday. I took the train to Liverpool and talked to about 150 students of the Wirral schools. The students had voted POISON STUDY the "Wirral Paperback of the Year" for 2009. Winning this award set my whole UK tour in motion. The students were fantastic and supportive and they laughed at all my jokes :) I had so much fun talking to them! The school already put an article and pictures up about my visit on their website.
Here's a link: Wirral School Website
The book signing & talk at the Waterstones' Bookshop in Crawley was another highlight of my tour. The event was well attended and it was another great group of readers. We had lots of fun and during the Q&A I was asked a question I've never been asked before! A very nice young gentleman asked me if Valek was my vision of the perfect man :) I answered that my husband tells his friends and family that Valek is based on him. In order to keep marital harmony, I won't say anymore ;>
The staff of the Waterstones in Crawley were super nice and I had to pleasure of finally meeting Louise, who has been hand selling my books for years (she's in the top picture with me) and she was the reason I came to Crawley. Another plus was meeting Reema (she's in the bottom picture with me), another big supporter and friend who sent many letters to MIRA Books UK, asking them to bring me over. Her poor beleaguered boyfriend drove her 3 hours to see me (he was a sweetheart!). You can see more pictures from this signing on Louise's Facebook page here: More Crawley Pictures.
My Friday night book signing at Foyles Bookshop was lots of fun. The bookstore is in the Westfield Centre, which is a new, huge, modern mall. If you're a connoisseur of malls, this one is worth a visit. I had to study the map to find the store, and I worried my readers would be lost. But they all found me, and I had another lovely evening. The lady in red who is sitting next to me in the picture is Sophie. She organized my whole tour and kept me on track so I arrived at all my events on time and relaxed!
If you're looking for signed copies of the UK edition of SEA GLASS online, I also stopped at Forbidden Planet and signed a ton of books. They have the books listed on their website at: Forbidden Planet And if you just want copies of my other UK books, I have a list of online retailers near the bottom of this page :)
Informal Get Together/Book Signing on Saturday turned into more of a formal signing, which was good as many people traveled from far away to see me. The manager of the Waterstones in Chelsea was very gracious and I immediately liked him. He also managed to find chocolates made with criollo beans - how cool it that? The informal part came a little later as the queue died. I hung out with a few readers and we chatted about the books. The Book Pushers came to see me, and they posted pictures here: The Book Pushers
A mother and daughter traveled from Wales to see me, and another friend/reader of mine traveled from Paris so the four of us went out for tea after the signing. (side note - I loved the English tea! Every morning at breakfast the hotel's restaurant gave me a pot of tea. Not a bag, but a whole pot ready to go!) And yes, I'm wearing the same jacket and my signing scarf (it has signatures of famous authors on it). I could only pack so much ;>
Saturday wasn't all work. I did get to see Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. It was rainy and cold, but the joggers were still out in shorts and tee-shirts (brrrr!). After spending all week hopping on and off the Underground, I began to view the Gloucester Road station as home. My last night in London was spent at the Playhouse Theatre, watching the musical, Dreamboats and Petticoats. It was High School Musical meets Grease. The show was excellent. Not only did the actors and actresses sing and dance, but they played their own instruments as well (no pit orchestra for them), which was very impressive! The show was a great way to end a wonderful trip!
STORM GLASS UK Book Trailer:
Study Series / Glass Series United Kingdom Young Adult Trade Paperback Covers:
You can order all Maria's UK editions online at these online UK retailers:
