Don Tillman, a professor of genetics, believes a 16-page questionnaire will help him find the perfect partner—or at least the second date he’s never had. Then he meets the unlikeliest of candidates: Rosie, who is on a quest to find her biological father.

Graeme Simsion wrote the first draft of The Rosie Project in four weeks, writing “flat out and every second,” an experience he describes as “easy and totally enjoyable.” Before he turned his attention to screenwriting and fiction at 50 years of age, Simsion studied physics and worked in information technology, including at several universities. He says, “I met a lot of people like Don who were more comfortable with ideas and things than with people. Many struggled to find a partner, and were stereotyped as unfeeling when in fact they had much to offer.” Simsion summarizes his goal for The Rosie Project as, “Make ’em laugh, make ’em cry, make ’em think.”

Simon & Schuster senior editor Karyn Marcus had already heard buzz about this romantic comedy before it came to her from David Forrer and Kim Witherspoon at Inkwell on behalf of Text Publishing. She says, “Don’s rigid logic and how those antics expressed themselves in the world of romance made me laugh out loud. And throughout those fits of laughter, I felt something I don’t often feel while reading fiction: hope.”

Simon & Schuster is planning a first printing of 250,000 copies. Sony Pictures has optioned the screen rights.