On Saturday, I got one of the best calls ever. My best friend Stace called to tell me that she was leaving one of the local malls and she told me to sit down. Now, in all fairness, her uncle wasn’t doing too well and she sounded a little off, so I thought uh oh. That news came later, but he’s doing much better now, thank the good Lord. Anyway, she ventured into Borders and browsed around wanting to see THE LAST THING I EXPECTED on the shelves so she could snap a picture and have some bragging rights. When she couldn’t find it, she walked up to the counter and asked for help. A very nice lady said sure, give me the author’s name and had her hands poised on the keyboard ready to look it up. 

“Heather Rae Scott.”

The very nice lady didn’t type anything, instead she looked up at Stace and said, “Wow.”

“Excuse me?” Stace asked.

“You’re the like the tenth or more person who came in here today asking about her book. We had some copies and we sold out of them. Would you like to be put on our waiting list? Now, before you answer, it’s a long list and you aren’t obligated to purchase it here and we aren’t sure how many of them we can get in. It might be a long wait.”

“Oh. My. God. Are you serious?” Stace hollered. “That is so cool! Put me down for two!”

Now, Stace was one of my first readers and had to put up with reading countless false starts and all she wanted from me were two little words: THE END. She said I know you’re not famous yet, but Rae, how cool is it that they can’t keep your book on the shelf?

Extremely cool.

So, another tiny lesson folks, PR pays off. Especially in a Rural community who isn’t exactly tech savvy. It sucks sometimes to be put on the spot in an interview, but it does pay off.

And I’ll leave you with a not so great picture of me and da book, since Eileen asked so nicely. :wink:  

There are simple pleasures in life. I could rattle on with a lot of them. But I’m going to focus on a couple of things today. My friend Leslie is the bomb. Truly, she is. I love her to peices. Today, she made my year. She was just as excited as I was about the prospect of holding my book in her hands. She ordered my book on Tuesday night. I knew she had and she said she was getting me a copy because she knew my author copies weren’t here yet. She called me today as I was napping and said that she was on her way home from school shopping, was going to stop by her house to see if there was a ‘package’. If there was, she was sending one of the boys up on her porch to retrieve it and her camera and she’d be right here. Those were the longest minutes of my life. Waiting and anticipating, but because I didn’t want to seem greedy, I didn’t pounce on her as soon as she pulled up in front of the house. I was good and calm. Instead, I grabbed her son, Ethan. One of the cutest little guys on this planet. He’s only a little over a year old, but man, he steals your heart in a snap.

I’d been waiting for this moment for an eternity. I was finally going to hold my very first book in my hands. As I tore open the box, Leslie and my daughter took picures. My hair was a mess. I was a mess and we got pictures of a house that needs a coat of paint in the worst way. Leslie, being the honest friend she is, said to me before she left. “I love you and all, and you can tell me to shut up. But let me give you some advice. Clean yourself up, do your hair, put on some make up and look professional if you post a picture of you on your blog.” I hugged her as she left and thanked her profusely for sharing my dream turn into a reality. Sometimes I hate it when she’s right though. LOL

Then, it was time to wait patiently again. My guy wasn’t here. I willed time to move just a little faster for him to get home. I showered, did my hair, got dressed and went out onto the front porch to wait for him to pull up. When he did, I walked to the edge of our sidewalk, book behind me and smiled. He got out and I started to wiggle and he didn’t even reach me until the tears started to fall and I began to cry as I held up my book for him to see.

My guy has the nicest shit-eatting grin. There’s no other way to put it. It’s sexy and it makes me melt and he knows it. He gave me that grin, hugged me, kissed me, twirled me into the air and we walked onto the porch. He sat down his stuff, picked up the book and I perched up onto my banister and watched him. He flipped open the pages and read the dedication. I’d read it to him before. He got teary-eyed. Now, let me explain that my guy is 100% all Alpha-male. I saw him cry when his grandparents died and when our son was born. Today, he reminded me why I’m with him. If you ever meet him or you’re reading this and you know him. Keep the whole tears thing a secret, we don’t want to tarnish his bad-ass image. :wink:

A little while later, I called my grandparents. I joke about them. They’re the couple who love to hate each other. They’ve been a huge part of my life and while sometimes that isn’t always a picnic, I wouldn’t be who I am without them. I’ll never forget the day when I asked them if I could use their last name as my psuedonym. Without hesitation, they said sure. I love my grandmother very much, but I have always and forever been a “Pappy’s Girl”. I adore my grandfather and I dread each birthday he has, dread each day that one more thing is wrong with him, because I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do when he leaves this world.

I had a really cool yahoo message to come home too after we spent almost twelve hours school shopping. Yes, twelve hours, folks. My little one has suddenly developed a fetish for having to run to the bathroom…a lot. He threw up in a public place last Winter and for some reason, every time we go out now–especially to malls, he suddenly has a belly ache. Trying to get him over this, but my guy keeps babying him, hence making it worse. So, my guy missed out on ‘door busters’ for the boys while I got em for Kay.

Oh, I guess this is where I say too, that I ventured into one of the local Borders and spoke with a really nice manager and he wants to do a book signing in September. I’ll be recruiting my friends en masse. He said that he could ‘hook me up’ with the other malls too. He said, “We’ll place you up front so you can hock your wares. Why, my dear did you suddenly turn green?”

My guy was laughing, said it was my new color. Shithead that he is, who could be a bear while I was writing now suddenly thinks this is all cool. Of course he would, he loves to see me squirm.

Ah, so my review. Astraea from Enchanted Ramblings had this to say: “This is a sweet romance with characters that are well crafted and a story that moves along fairly quickly. Grace is a heroine everyone can relate to, and Eddie is the hero they want to have fall in love with them. The story is one that is funny and endearing. I can’t wait to see the next book.”

Thank you! *wiggles*