Hey friends!
Pale Blue Dot(s) is LIVE on Audible!

Here's what it's about:

Several years in the future, an all-female astronaut team circumnavigates the globe once every 90 minutes aboard the International Space Station, prepared to be a powerful presence in space. When a surprise set of "everyday citizens" tags along for the ride, all protocol flies right out the proverbial...airlock.

After a lifetime of being kept down on the ground, what happens when these women finally rise up and see their lives - and their planet - from high above it all?
 

(Are you currently listening to Pale Blue Dot(s)?)

Here's what people are saying:

"...it felt a little like it would have been a spin off for the Netflix series Space Force."  - Brian's Book Blog

"Erin Mallon is an absolute treasure with a brilliant mind, a talented voice and fresh perspective on love, life and audiobooks. Pale Blue Dot(s) is a multicast audio play celebration of women who can grow up to be anything, and they do." - AudibleAddict 

"So I have my go-to romcom authors, my go-to dark romance authors etc. Erin Mallon is my go-to author when I want to be surprised."  - Jess, Audible reviewer

"The full cast narration is brilliant. They never missed a beat and the special audio effects make this audiobook full-immersion experience."     - LostinBooklandia
 

Cool huh?

This amazing full cast is getting rave reviews for their performances. And if you take a listen to our blooper outtakes at the end of the recording, you'll hear firsthand how much fun we had working together. Here is the powerhouse cast of women (and one awesome man) you'll hear when you pick up Pale Blue Dot(s):

 

(Top l to r: Inés del Castillo, Andrew Eiden, Sarah Mollo-Christensen)
(Middle l to r: Natalie Naudus, Adenrele Ojo, Thérèse Plummer)
(Bottom l to r: Megan Tusing, Julia Whelan, Gabra Zackman)

This has been a lovely week for Pale Blue Dot(s). Not only did it release on Audible as an audio play, but it's currently in rehearsals for a stage production at New York University (NYU)! I got to attend a rehearsal last night and it had me feeling all kinds of emotional (gratitude being one of the top sentiments on the list). It has been a LONG time since I have been physically in a rehearsal room with theater artists who are building a piece from the ground up (since February 2020 to be exact).

I'd almost forgotten how ALIVE that room makes me feel.

With everything I create as a writer, I'm trying to reach people on a few levels. I want to offer laughter and lightness - I feel like there's way too little of that in life sometimes. But... I'm usually doing that so we can ultimately dive into juicy territory together, wrestle with questions, ponder the big ideas. And let me tell you, these students last night were up for the RIDE. I think with this play, you can easily listen to it and focus on the fun and silliness of it all - which is totally valid and awesome.

However, if you want to dig deeper, there's a lot in there to unpack. 

Here are some of the questions the students asked me last night at rehearsal that led to discussions that had me positively GIDDY:

- Why is there only one man in this play?
- Why did you choose to have Elon Musk and David Bowie played by women?
- Did you purposely base the character Fred on Sally Ride and her sexuality?
- Why doesn't Max have a home on Earth?
- Why would G.C. pursue Ronnie when they're so clearly not a match?
- Can we talk about the particulars of the miscarriage?
- What's actually going on with Fred's health?
- Why does G.C. bow out of communication towards the end?

We dove into ALL the discussion and it was a joy. Maybe some of these same questions will come up tonight during the Instagram LIVE I'm doing with the cast of the audio production...          
 

I hope you'll join us tonight, February 25th at 8pm ET - be sure to follow me on Instagram (@mallonerin) so you see when we go live! I'll be back next week dropping some coooool news I've been sitting on for quite a while. I can't wait to share it with you!

In the meantime, scroll down for this week's Author Spotlight featuring the wonderful Misha Bell's latest and greatest: Femme Fatale-ish (which I was lucky enough to narrate!).

xoxo
Erin

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT

MISHA BELL

My name is Blue—insert a mood-related joke here—and I’m a femme fatale in training. My goal is to join the CIA. Unfortunately, I have a tiny issue with birds, and the closest I’ve come to my dream is working for a government agency that’s disturbingly up-to-speed on everyone’s sexts, rants in private Facebook groups, and secret family chocolate-chip cookie recipes.

I know I’m a spy cliché, that agent who works at a desk but craves fieldwork. However, I have a plan: I’m going to infiltrate the secretive Hot Poker Club, where I’ve spotted a mysterious, sexy stranger who I’m convinced is a Russian spy.

And once I’m in? All I have to do is seduce the presumed spy without falling for him, so I can expose his true identity and prove my femme fatale bona fides to the CIA. I never lose concentration at work, so that’ll be an absolute breeze for me. Oh, and did I mention he’s sexy?

I’m doing it for my country, not my ovaries, I pinky swear.

WARNING: Now that you’ve finished reading this, your device will self-destruct in five seconds.

NOTE: This is a standalone, raunchy, slow-burn romantic comedy featuring a quirky, spy-movie-obsessed heroine, a scorching hot maybe-Russian, several terrifying tales about birds, and lots of text debates about the relative cuteness of animals. If any of the above is not your cup of tea, run far, far away. Otherwise, buckle up for a laugh-out-loud, feel-good ride.