So far, it’s been an excellent week for books. I’m expecting a package of new reads on my doorstep any minute now, and I polished off an entire stack of library books this weekend. (I’m trying to reach my Goodreads goal of reading 100 books in 2011; I’m up to 96 read with 18 more days to go.) And of course there was that really good news from Brazil.

Today, though, I can finally share some more really good news that’s been in the works for a few weeks now: MAGIC MARKS THE SPOT and its sequels will be published in the UK by Simon & Schuster! The books will be published simultaneously in the US and the UK, but the UK editions will have a different design and a different illustrator. Which is ridiculously cool if you ask me.

I grew up reading children’s books by British authors and expats like Diana Wynne Jones, Philip Pullman, Susan Cooper, and (later) Neil Gaiman. When I was older and able to travel to the places I’d read about in stories, my love of British children’s books led to other loves: for rolling landscapes, for ancient history, for mint Aero bars. I spent a summer in Oxford, which became the setting for my first (very unpublished) novel; Oxford and London were also the inspirations for a couple of the imaginary cities in MAGIC MARKS THE SPOT. So I think it’s particularly fitting–and particularly thrilling–that my books have found a home in a country that’s given me so many great stories, great real-life adventures, and great chocolate.