Mara goes blue...or green...or maybe stays yellow.

The big news on the Stuck in Downward Dog front is that Mara's lost weight! Well, not really (she still loves her smoothies and like any good mom I love her just the way she is) but this spring 2008, she'll be coming out in a slightly smaller version, which is perfect for carrying in your handbag! It will also be slightly less expensive (but not CHEAP! Mara's not a hoochie mama wearing clothes from one of those stores on Yonge Street that displays their clothes on the OUTSIDE of the store. Oh no she's not.). The BOOK will be cheaper - which is great news if you haven't yet bought your copy OR if you loved the book so much (or me, I'm talking to you, FAMILY! ie people with the last name GUERTIN or SIMMONS), that you want to buy ANOTHER copy of it! I think it will cost about $16.95 instead of $22.95 -- or so it says on Indigo, but with discounts and US pricing and all that, maybe it'll be like $4.00! And who doesn't have $4.00 to spend? It's the price of a cup of coffee! (OK maybe a coffee at Starbucks. Still.) It's like feeding a child in Ethiopia. Actually, if you have the choice, you should totally give your $4.00 to a child in Ethiopia. I don't mind. They need it more than Mara does -- she's just going to spend it on more smoothies.

But if you DO have more than $4.00 to spare, then you should buy the new version because there's a chance that the background colour of the cover will be a different.

I love this idea! But I want to know what you think ... so email me or leave your comments below for your top colour choice for the background. If my publisher chooses your colour, you'll be entered in a contest to win the new version of the book! And if you don't want my book, then maybe I'll give you another author's book that you like more. Like Tom Perotta's latest, The Abstinence Teacher. I'm reading this right now, and loving it. It's for my bookclub. Good choice, whoever picked it! Oh! It was me. Nevermind. That was totally conceited of me. Well, I didn't write it, so it wasn't that conceited.

Moving on. Or back. To my book. Since they're reprinting it, there's also the chance for me to fix any mistakes in the book for this new printing. And that's where you come in. Because I CANNOT bear to read the book again. I haven't read it at all since it came out. Even when I have to choose my passages to read at readings, I do so with one eye closed, and I skim the pages, getting the gist of the passage without looking close enough at the details. I don't want to find the mistakes. But I know, there probably ARE mistakes, I just don't want to know about them. Because I would feel sick. So... if you've read the book and found any mistakes, email me (or post in the comments) and let me know! And then I can tell my editor and she can fix them. And then I will feel sick, but very thankful to you for telling me.

Now, you might be wondering, What kind of changes can we REALLY make with the book? Well, funny you should ask because I was having this exact conversation with my alter ego, Chantal. So I thought I'd share it with you, and then you'll know what to look for:

Chantal: Can you change Mara's name to Maya, because I totally thought her name was supposed to be Maya and it was annoying to me while I was reading the book. Actually, it annoyed me so much I just stopped reading.

Chantel: No. Mara's name is Mara. Just like my name is Chantel, even though one time I went to an event where they give you one of those "Hello, my name is..." stickers and when I told the woman in charge how to spell my name she said, "You should spell it 'Chantal' because it would be easier for others to spell." Um, what? Leslie, Lesley. Kathryn, Katharine, Katherine, Catherine... you get the idea.

Chantal: Oh, okay, good point, I don't want to change my name to Chantel. I think that's stupid. Moving on... In the end, I wanted Mara to find a hot guy so she could just make out with him instead of going to yoga. Could you add that in?

Chantel: No. It's not about getting the guy. It's about getting a life. If I change the ending, we'll have to change the tag line. And I like the tag line. It's like my high school tag line: Holy Cross. Home of the Raiders. If we suddenly became Home of the Nuns, we would've had to change all our crests and letterhead, and likely our green uniforms to black and white ones. Besides, Mara probably will find a guy now that she's happy with herself, but I wanted to leave the type of guy up to the reader instead of telling you EVERYTHING. Because what fun is that?

Chantal: Hmmm... I really want you to change something. How about in the middle of the book when Mara "walked across the street" but it says, Mara "walkes across the street". That seems like a mistake.

Chantel: Oh no! That is a mistake! What page is it on?

Chantal: I don't know. I just made it up.

Chantel: Oh. Well say it was a mistake, then you should totally tell me, because with one eye closed, I likely won't find it. And that would suck for Mara to walkes across the street again. Even if she is thinner and cheaper.