BDL Librarian Wins E-Book Award

Like many authors, Sarah Perry started writing early in life.

“I fell in love with writing in the second grade when I was required to create daily journal entries,” she said.

Keen to Perry’s budding talents, her third grade teacher set aside time for Perry to present her stories to her classmates. Perry continued to write stories over the years, but, except for a freelance article here and there, she never pursued publication.

“I always wanted to be a writer, but I never took the time to realize the dream—until the last few years,” Perry said.

Her first move was to become a member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Founded in 1971, SCBWI is a network of professionals involved in the making of children’s books. Members are alerted to upcoming contests.

Soon after joining SCBWI, Perry found out about a publication opportunity. Meegenius, a website that offers digitized books, was holding a first book contest. They were looking for new talent and original, unpublished books.

Perry jumped at the chance to submit her book, Pajama Girl. She quickly found an illustrator, and together they submitted their work to the contest. On April 29, Perry and her illustrator, “Ingvard the Terrible,” found out they had won. Pajama Girl beat out at least 30 other titles.

“I’d been dreaming of it for a long time,” Perry said.

 According to Perry, the judges were impressed by the strength of the main character, Patricia, who was inspired by Perry’s own daughter.

“She took on powers to avoid going to bed,” Perry said. “She could always drink one more glass of water or listen to one more story—things that she couldn’t do during the day.”

Perry, noting that girls are almost always made into princesses, said she has always liked the idea of a female superhero.

“The book wrote itself in my head. Then, when my daughter finally fell asleep, I wrote it all down.”

Perry is hoping that her audience—both children and adults—will come to appreciate the humor in what can be a difficult time of day.

“Bedtime can be frustrating. Children aren’t ready to stop exploring the world and parents are craving the 30 minutes of free time they might have to themselves before they go to bed,” Perry said.

But it’s actually fun to see what your child can come up with to fight sleep, Perry said, adding, 'tomorrow is another day.'

Pajama Girl was published on http://meegenius.com on Mother’s Day.

“It was a great Mother’s Day gift, especially since the book was inspired by my oldest child,” Perry said.

All of MeeGenius’s books feature word highlighting and audio playback, and some, including Pajama Girl, can be personalized. Meegenius is also available as an application for the iPhone, iPad, iTouch, Google TV and Google Chrome Web Store.

Perry is currently at work on a young adult novel tentatively titled Dream Girl. You can read her blog at http://writertherestless.blogspot.com.