So.... What's Your Book About?

That's the question I keep getting from friends and relatives who are excited over my news about the publication of The Girl in a Whirl. A friend of mine who had seen the couple of lines written in the Amazon description, then read reviews on the book said, "It sounds so wonderful from what people are saying! But what's it about?"

Well, the part of the description that says, "it's full of humorous insights about being an LDS woman, family stuff, and this & that about life" is fairly accurate. The subjects included in the book are pretty random, kind of like life is. Here are just some of the topics:

Misunderstood Primary lessons,
being late,
TV,
Good intentions for diet & exercise,
hamsters, snakes and other pets,
the Sabbath day,
guys and sports,
embarrassing things that happen sometimes,
teenagers,
"Mormon foods" like JELL-O,
living prophets,
how things happen day-to-day
that apparently "nobody" did,
being organized--or not,
accidentally wearing two different shoes,
Halloween candy,
unmatched socks,
learning how to hear the promptings of the Spirit,
kids and food,
unexpected callings,
faithfully following Christ,
and lots more!

But although a lot of it is fun and funny, overall:

It will help you feel encouraged,

strengthened, and reassured

of your ability to be a faithful follower of Christ

regardless of what your circumstances are.

And although it takes a humorous path to get there, THAT'S what this book in really about.

There! Now you know. =o)

Book Signing Invitation

I got home tonight from the Relief Society broadcast, and found an email inviting me to do a book signing with Julie Wright and Josi Kilpack, a couple of well-known and wonderful LDS authors!

Just read it again. Actually, it's three book signings.

It will be SO much nicer getting to have a book signing with other authors--especially them! =o)

A Couple of Interesting Reactions to The Girl in a Whirl [link]

To really understand this post, you'd have to know Jay. He's.... well.... kind of crazy sometimes. He was SO excited when my book came yesterday! He didn't see it until late last night when he finished teaching, and he couldn't wait to tell people about it today and show it around.

He took it to work this morning to show to his boss and the other people he works with. Remember that we live in Southern California. Unless you teach Institute, it's unlikely that very many of your co-workers are going to be LDS. But he just couldn't wait to show them my very LDS book written mostly for women!

Actually, lots of it is stuff anyone could relate to. But then there are parts about following living prophets, scriptures from the Book of Mormon, and phrases and expressions that only Latter-day Saints would understand. I guess it possibly could be a missionary tool of sorts, although I certainly never wrote it with that thought in mind. After Jay left for work, I started mentally reviewing how this or that might come across to someone who isn't a member of the Church. Anyway, Jay is kind of adorable when he does things like this, even though he's a little over-the-top every once in a while.

Okay, so he's showing The Girl in a Whirl to his very Catholic boss and telling him all about it. He had brought him bits and pieces of it before it came out. Now he randomly opens the book to whatever page comes up to show him an example of what else is in it. His boss takes the book out of Jay's hand and starts reading it out loud. He's reading the part called "Some Changes in the Organization," a sort of funny piece about what happens in the life of an "Organized Man" once he has children. Halfway through it, his boss, who has four children including a newborn baby, chokes up and can't read any more. He hands it to Jay so he can read the rest. When Jay finishes, his boss says,

"I need a copy of this book. No, two copies." Then he says, "Can I take this one home tonight to show my wife until you bring my books tomorrow?"

Next, one of Jay's co-workers who had been in the room at the time listening to all this says,

"Wow, Jay. Your wife needs to go on Oprah with this." Ha! Right... Like that's going to happen! Funny. Sweet, though.

Neither of these reactions were at all what I might have expected in either case. =o)

My Books Came! (and I'm just strange...)

Actually, they came yesterday. I answered the door around noon, and a UPS guy stood there with a carton of books. It was exciting to open it and see them, even though I already knew how they would look.

I know that I'm completely strange, but within minutes, I was tense and feeling stressed, complete with knotting muscles in my back and so on. I didn't expect that, and didn't know what to think.

"Just what is your problem, missy!" I demanded. I couldn't hear the answer too well, but I think it said,

"Book promotion... You have to do all that book promotion now... Aaaagh! Book promotion... Oh, and don't forget, you still don't know if anyone will even like your book anyway..."

Yep, I'm pretty sure that's what it said. And this kind of reaction is SO not me. I'm generally not the worrier type. And I'm almost never the pessimist. I think it's just all the unknowns. This is all completely unknown territory.

Usually in uncharted waters, I'm yelling, "Whoopee! Adventure!" But not this time, even though I really WANT to be. I'm a weird mix of emotions right now, vacillating between elation and dread.

Yeah, I know. I'm completely strange.

This is Why

It's just one small example of why, but this shows a little bit of why it is so wonderful to be married to my husband, Jay.

It was the typical busy morning. Get kids up, help them get things around, get breakfast on, pray, and then send them out the door for seminary. See whatever Jay needs done so he can get off to work.

We have a few minutes to talk, and then he says he really needs to go because he has a busy day. He holds me close, and as always, it feels so nice. He kind of sways back and forth as he hugs me, and I say to him, "Mmmm... We're going to have to go dancing again one of these days," which we both love to do.

He says, "Wait right there," as he goes over to the computer, puts our favorite song on, and then reaches out for me. We spend the next four minutes and forty-three seconds dancing in our bedroom, with him holding me close and softly singing the words in my ear. We dance, and tears fill my eyes because he's always just so loving. Once again, I wonder how anyone could possibly deserve to be treated the way he treats me.

I am so blessed.

My New Book is OFFICIALLY COMPLETE!!!!

"Complete" as in, illustrated, edited, proofread, typeset, and at the printers at this moment! Hurray!

That hurray here, btw, isn't a hurray that says,

"Yay, Me! I wrote a book!"

No, that hurray says,

"Oh my gosh, I am happy this is finished. I thought it was all basically done last week after everything we'd been doing up until that point and with all the craziness we had to do last week. It wasn't though, and this week has been pretty crazy too. But NOW, it's all finished and taken care of! "

Hurray, indeed.

I just remembered that I can put pictures here.

Here's what the book looks like, except it also says, "Foreword by Merrilee Boyack" on it.

What's the book about?

"It's about being an LDS woman, family stuff, and this & that about life.

It's fun & funny, but encouraging too. Overall, it will help you feel strengthened and reassured of your ability to be a faithful follower of Christ regardless of what your circumstances are."

Go HERE to read some reviews about it!

Or HERE to read my "Author Bio" that's in the book. Ha!

It's been fun to do. Very fun! Toward the end, it was beginning to be what we call around here, "more fun that I can stand". =o) Well, not really. But it has been incredibly busy, and pretty stressful in some ways.

Anyway, it's done now. Hurray!

I think I'm starting to get excited about all this now....