They're Here!

by Stephanie Black

My books arrived yesterday! (And here I’d been thinking I needed to watch for the UPS truck, when as it turned out, they came Fed Ex ground. That’s almost enough to make me feel guilty about the way I spent the past few days with my arms flung around the leg of the UPS man as I begged him for packages.). Kerry tells me that I promised a picture of this momentous occasion, and though I’m not sure that’s strictly true (okay, I talked about pictures, but did I promise one?) here’s a picture because I want to remain in Kerry’s good graces. Okay, so the picture’s a little cheesy. And yes, of course it was staged. I told you it would be. I didn’t even have makeup on when the box arrived.

I actually got my hands on a copy of my book before the box arrived. On Monday, a friend and I drove up to Seagull Book (about twenty-five minutes away). Yes, folks, I went to the bookstore and bought my own book and it was dang fun, not just because I got to hold my book for the first time, but also because I got to see the book on the shelves, which is a thrill. I also got to purchase a copy of Kerry's Counting Blessings. Hooray! I also got to chat with a delightful bookstore employee who had just finished listening to Fool Me Twice on audio and enjoyed it.

I’ve been listening to the audio myself, and the actress, Kathryn Laycock Little, does a great job. I think the people who read books for audio are magical geniuses. I can read The Cat in the Hat with feeling, but I’d have no idea how to record a novel for audio—how to create different voice styles for different characters, how to read tense scenes so they come across as dramatic but not overdone, and so on. I think it’s marvelous what a good actor or actress can do when reading a book, so thank you, Kathryn!

Last night was Enrichment meeting, and we were supposed to offer a “gift of service.” This could be absolutely anything that we could do for someone else—some homemade cookies, an offer to drive someone to the airport, handmade cards, an offer to teach someone how to use Excel, and so on. I decided to offer a copy of my book—my service was to entertain someone for a few hours. Okay, maybe it was a little unusual, but the sisters seemed to like it. I even wrapped it up cute-like in cellophane (come on, it’s Relief Society. Cellophane and bows are mentioned in the scriptures, you know). I suspect that I had had more fun last night than my daughters, who were babysitting in the RS Enrichment nursery. When I returned to the nursery after the meeting ended, I found that they had written some rules on the board:

Laws (Cardinal Rules for the Babysat):

1. No killing.
2. No climbing.
3. No beating.
4. No hiding.
5. Habeas corpus hereby suspended.

Sounds like they had fun, eh?