A Night to Remember

On Saturday, Lowcountry Bribe went live on Amazon, B&N and Bell Bridge Books. I knew it was coming, but not exactly when, so when I could "see" the results of over a decade of work, it was a giddy-silly, out-of-body, this-isn't-real moment. I walked down the hall from my study. Hubby was washing dishes in the kitchen.


"I'm a published author!" I said. "Lowcountry Bribe" is live!."

"Yay, Sweetie!" he said as he came over and wrapped me in a hug. He held me back at arm's length and asked, "Should I bake you a cake or something?"

We laughed. I returned to my work, emailing, tweaking random things still not working on the website, and immersed myself in work. I thought about sending an email to about 25 friends and relatives about where they could see the book, composed it, and shot it off, anxious to hear responses.

A while later, hubby walked in and sat a coffee and liqueur drink we affectionately call a "nudge" on the desk before me, in my favorite green cup with my name on it. Whipped cream and all. Cherry on top. Then he set down a teeny little sweet treat. Two cookies with icing in between and on top, the word "yeah, Sweetie" written across the top.

Of course I had to hug him tight, laugh some more, almost cry. Then I ate the treat in two bites, followed by whipped cream and coffee. He laughed hard and I grinned. "What?"

"You have a green tongue," he said.

"You used green icing on the cookie," I explained, licking my teeth.

"It's not going away," he grinned.

"Wait," I said. "What did you use on this cookie?"

"Just what was in your baking drawer. The tube said green on it."

Yep, hubby had used green gel food dye to write the words.

"A night to remember," I said, chuckling. "A good moment." I sat back down and returned to work, in a marvelous mood.

Then someone replied to my earlier email. OMG. I'd mailed my announcement as a forward to a batch of jokes sent by a writing friend. Seeing his email address had prompted me to send the notice, but in the excitement, I hit forward instead of compose.

Panic ripped through me as I thought about the first joke - a picture of a voluptuous girl's T-shirt-clad shirt displaying the words "I lost my virginity but I still have the package it came in."

Then I had to laugh out loud. A belly laugh. A life happens laugh.

Dare to be silly. Dare to be memorable. Dare to enjoy whatever happens, when it happens, and let it weave into the fabric of your being. For the rest of my days I'll remember green teeth and busty jokes as symbols of the kick-off night my novel came alive. And it'll always bring a smile to my face as a night nothing could go wrong, and all was right with the world.

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Available at: 

Amazon
Bell Bridge Books
Barnes & Noble

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