Sometimes out on the road you can see for miles and your destination, while visible, seems so long in arriving that you start to forget where you're heading to. You take a look at the Quonset on the side of the road, or the way the clouds are torn along the eastern sky, or the buzz of the gravel on the tires. And then, you're there. I went into Borders on Friday to thank the manager for offering to host a reading and while we talked about the upcoming availability date of September 10, he looked up Turpentine on the computer and announced that the book seemed to be in the store.
We walked into the literature section and I saw it. My first thought was, "Oh, I have that book!"
The manager asked me if I'd like to sign the copies. I stammered, "Sure." The clerk handed me a pen and I signed my name, in a wavering line on the Title page, feeling a little giddy and a little like I was play-acting 'important author.' So, if you get a book in Davis, California, and inside is a very shaky signature, I apologize for the lack of grace, yet more, thank you very, very much for taking Turpentine home.
2 comments:
Awwww! What a touching moment. All I can write is congratulations again and again---your third baby. zhen's mama
You've achieved the moment every writer dreams of, holding the published book in your hands! As zhen's mama said it is very much like a baby: created from passion and love, the story growing in you, the embryo of an idea taking shape and forming into something unique and complete, the hard work that goes into refining and finishing the raw product.
I know you to be one of the best of mothers, having incredible maternal instincts and intuition. I can't wait to see if this new baby, and those to follow, will turn out to be as well raised as my nephews are!
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