I’ve just gotten home and am going through my mail. It’s a day for unpacking, organizing, trying to remember and reinstate my routines, and figuring out which way is up. I like days like this. They’re cozy and slow, and I don’t put a lot of pressure on myself. Especially since I handed in a draft right before I left, I have the added pleasure of deciding what I’m writing next. This thing that I probably should work on, or that thing that’s knocking on my door, begging to be worked on? And, now that Arctic Trip Prep is no longer my biggest extracurricular activity, I finally get to dive into some other projects that have been on hold. You know your life has opened up a little when you’re actually looking forward to tasks like choosing new health insurance now that you’re married, and figuring out whether you need to keep paying for long-term disability insurance. Sigh.

This morning, I find myself spending some time with my favorite piece of mail — the Spanish version of Jane, Unlimited, published for Mexico, Central and South America by V&R Editoras.

This edition contains some lovely design details! The designers, artists, and editors did some very clever and nice things with the umbrella metaphor — closed umbrellas, open umbrellas, depending on what part of the book you’re in. Here’s the title page:

The table of contents:

The beginning of the first, “closed” part:

Here’s the attractive design on the first page of each section:

Every single page of the book has an umbrella at the bottom! Be still my beating heart. And a key-like shape between parts:

Now we reach the end of the first section and enter the part of the book where the “umbrella opens” into all the different simultaneously-occurring stories:

More design as Jane decides:

The subsequent sections of the book are marked with an open umbrella:

And here are the parts of the umbrella at the end:

I am delighted. Thank you to my Spanish-edition team, which includes Marcela Luza, Marianela Acuña, Melisa Corbetto, Erika Wrede, Julián Balangero, Luis Tinoco, translator Graciela S. Romero, and many others whose names aren’t listed inside the edition. I am so happy!

Arctic stuff soon :o). And actually, these pictures look a little foggy to me — I may need to clean some salty, foggy, misty layers of grime from my iPhone. So much to do. Taking my time.

Be well, readers.