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....

Comments -- Books

About Comments

I've decided to have the option here to allow comments, not that I've particularly publicized where this blog is or anything.... Anyway, we'll see how it goes.

Books I Read

A friend was wondering, "So, the books you read are Jack Weyland books?" Yes. I happen to love what he writes because it's full of goodness, which I happen to have a particular penchant for. But no, that's not ALL I read, =o) and LDS teen/young adult fiction isn't my chosen genre. I primarily read non-fiction, but not always.

One of the books I'm currently reading is a book by Denver Snuffer Jr. titled The Second Comforter. It's my third time through it, actually. It's one of those books that I've marked, re-read and marked again, and am now reading and marking once again. There's so much to digest there. And it's a book on what has ever been my consuming passion. Not curiosity about the facts--the ins and outs, and the whats and whys, but only the how. For that, this book has been a particular blessing to have the privilege of reading.

One of my favorite books in this last year has been The Brain That Changes Itself, by Dr. Norman Doidge. It was fascinating. It chronicles some of the advances in neuroscience (neuroplasticity,) and was absolutely spellbinding. Astounding, even. I'd tell our kids some of the accomplishments from the book about what's being done now, and they'd think I was making it up. (Okay, some of the reason for that might be because I might make up something off-the-wall every once in a while just to make them laugh.) One example though, of the kind of thing I'm talking about is this-- Did you know that it doesn't take eyes in order to see? Yes, to actually see the things that are going on around you. Well, it doesn't. And I suppose that's as good of an intro to what's going on in this incredible age of neuroplasticity as anything....

I'm always reading something, and usually in minutes of time. Although I would adore curling up with a book I love and some Granny Smith or crisp Jonathan apples (only in September or October for the Jonathans--that's the only time they're good,) and reading it straight through, I rarely do it. There's usually too much going on around here, and too many other things that I both need and want to do. Since I read fairly quickly, there are some books that simply wouldn't take much time to read. But some books seem made to be devoured, and others, to be savored.

I do experience the joy of devouring or savoring a glorious book all in one sitting from time to time. That's MY idea of fun! Ha! I think my kids would say, "Wow, Mom.... If that's what fun is to you, your life is really, really BORING!"

A Dream About Jared

I dreamed about Jared last night. Since I'm one of those people who, for some reason, almost never remembers my dreams, to know that I dreamed about anything is a rare occurrence. I probably haven't remembered a handful of dreams in a year's time.

In my dream, I was in a room with Brad and Scott, sitting on the floor doing something or other. Someone had turned on some nice music, but I wasn't really paying any attention to who had done it. A couple of minutes later, I happened to look up and saw Jared lying on a bed over in the corner, watching us. I was so surprised to see him there, quiet and unobtrusive, like he would often be. I called out,

"Jared! What are you doing here?" He got that somewhat sheepish, sort of sad smile he had sometimes and said,

"I know that everyone thinks I'm dead, but I'm not. I'm sorry for all the bother I put everyone though over this."

It felt confusing for him to be there, but I immediately started thinking about what we needed to do to help him find someplace to live. And that was it. Then I woke up.

This morning, after I dropped the kids off at seminary, I couldn't stop thinking about my dream. I had an Enya cd in as I was driving home, and one of those haunting, lyrical melodies that she has was playing. Before I realized it, tears were sliding down my face. When I got home, I turned off the engine and just sat in the car and cried. I've felt pretty melancholy all morning, which isn't typical for me.

I miss my kind, gentle son.

A Beautiful Book - Jack Weyland's new =The Samaritan Bueno=

This is my favorite Jack Weyland book ever.

We own every book Jack Weyland has ever written. I've loved being able to buy his books so our kids could read them because they're always filled with goodness, but are so fun and interesting that our teens and young adults think they're great. Since we've enjoyed so many wonderful books of his over the years, I was extremely surprised that THIS Jack Weyland book has turned out to be my favorite one of all.

The Samaritan Bueno starts out with the classic Jack Weyland fare that teens love so much--the witty dialog, the engaging, often humorous characters, an interesting plot line (with a thread of 'values' running through it that parents always appreciate!) But if he ever wrote a book that keeps you off balance, wondering what will happen next and how the story will end, this is it. There were some parts when I wasn't sure where this whole thing was headed, and even a couple of places where I felt a little uncomfortable with how it looked like things were going. This is a book that will make you think, and may possibly even make you reconsider your views on a couple of issues.

As good as it was as it went along, I was unprepared for the profound impact that the last forty pages or so had on me. I was left in tears, not due to a heart-wrenchingly sad turn of events, but because the simple events described there were SO right, SO moving, and SO true, like--

--choosing to do the right thing even if it's humiliating in some respects, because you know in your soul it's what you should do;

--caring about others enough to actually be the person who makes the difference in situations that come up day to day;

--regardless of how things look at the moment, that to just keep doing what your heart says is right and true is the best thing you can do;

--that status and the apparent trappings of "success" don't matter as much as being deeply good and caring.

I love this book, and have such admiration and respect for Jack Weyland. Someone can only write a book like this by drawing from what's within their own soul and heart. What a blessing it is that an individual with a heart like this possesses the gift to be able to share it with the rest of us though what he writes.

Thank you, Jack.

This is a book you will want to own. You can click on the link at the left to see where you can purchase it.