Happy holidays to all! It's been a busy fall here in my "office," as I've been working hard to finish a draft of the third book in THE GREAT PEACH EXPERIMENT series. But I wanted to take a little break from that story set at the Icehotel in Sweden (sneak peek below!) to get some fun updates out about what's new (an audio book!) and upcoming (The Peach Pit!) and share what I've been reading lately.
(And, though I can't say much yet, here's a little tease: there will be a BIG announcement about a new book in an upcoming newsletter...I cannot wait to tell you all some GREAT news about another adventure I've been working on!).
THE GREAT PEACH EXPERIMENT:
Audio Book Release!
When I heard there would be an audio version of The Great Peach Experiment 1: When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Peach Pie, I assumed it would take a while to pull the whole thing together. But then, surprise! Narrator Lu Banks and Tantor Audio got their stuff together SO quickly, and there is now a beautiful audio book version of the first book in my latest series. Lu's voice is so soothing, and she did an amazing job capturing the essence of this story and my characters. Take a moment to listen to the preview, and then be sure to get a copy for those audio lovers in your life.
My publisher - Pixel+Ink - and I have been working on some fun ideas to help celebrate the upcoming release of THE GREAT PEACH EXPERIMENT 2: THE PEACH PIT. Here's what I know so far...
1) I would love to celebrate this release by visiting with readers, just like I did last spring on my virtual Peach Pie Truck tour.
2) We are going to have some ARCs available for this book (soon!) and would like to find an opportunity to share them with as many excited educators as possible.
3) I have tons of goodies available to send to students, and need help getting them into the hands of kids!
If you would like to be a part of our PEACH PACK, please check out the details and sign up here and I'll get you more info in the New Year.
The second book in THE GREAT PEACH EXPERIMENT series hasn't hit stores yet (and no one has even read it in ARC form yet!), but I'm already *just about* done with the third Peach adventure. I've been working on this book since last spring, and now I'm finally getting close to something that resembles a fun adventure....isn't it crazy how long it takes for a story to go from idea to draft to revision to printed book? This one won't be available in bookstores until April 2023!
So where did the idea for this Great Peach Experiment come from? My husband and I spent a night in Sweden's Icehotel almost twenty years ago (right around the time I started writing my very first book!), and I've been trying to figure out the right story for this magical setting ever since. Cue: The Peaches!
This story is full of snow and ice carving and dogsledding and nights sleeping on beds made of ice and it's going to be so, so fun (after my editors get their red pencils on it and help me fix it up!). Above are some pictures of my Icehotel adventure, but I guarantee that the fictional Peach trip to this world-famous landmark is much more exciting and action-packed than my real-life night-on-ice was.
Book Recommendations
Since it's the holiday season, and books are my favorite thing to give to friends and family as gifts, I think this a great time to share a few recent middle-grade reads that I've absolutely loved:
Glitter Gets Everywhere (the audio version of this was excellent!) An Occasionally Happy Family
The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy (any of Anne Ursu's books make extraordinary gifts!)
Flight of the Puffin
Across the Desert (I'm obsessed with all of Dusti Bowling's books, too!)
Do you love Hallmark and Lifetime holiday romance movies (but wish they could be a little funnier and less...cheesy)? Can't turn away from insane reality TV shows like The Bachelor?
Don't forget that I have a super-fun adult read that is available now - if you love cozy, funny, Christmas-y romance novels, check it out!
Starting in January, I will be resuming in-person school visits (I am fully vaccinated and boosted). If you would like to book me for a school visit, I do still have some slots left for this spring, and am also starting to look toward next school year as well. Please get in touch (or visit my website) if you would like to schedule an in-person or virtual visit!
ERIN SODERBERG DOWNING has written more than fifty books for kids, tweens, and young adults. The first book in her new middle-grade series - THE GREAT PEACH EXPERIMENT: When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Peach Pie - rolled into stores in Spring 2021 and is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Some of her other popular titles include two fun series – Puppy Pirates and The Quirks – and the magical middle-grade novel Moon Shadow. UPCOMING: The Great Peach Experiment 2: The Peach Pit will be released in April 2022, and Erin's next middle-grade novel - Controlled Burn - will be published by Scholastic Press in Fall 2022. Before becoming an author, Erin was a children’s book editor, a cookie inventor, and also worked for Nickelodeon. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband, three hilarious kids, a cuddly goldendoodle named Wally (the star of Puppy Pirates!), and Nutmeg the mischievous mini aussiedoodle puppy.
