Tuesday, February 07, 2012

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.

===


Available at: 

Amazon
Bell Bridge Books
Barnes & Noble

Come visit Hope's new website -http://www.chopeclark.com - where you'll see the new blog. For a short period of time, these blog posts will be duplicated, but not for long. Sign up for email updates or RSS feeds, but either way, the new blog welcomes you.

12 comments:

Sioux Roslawski said...

What an exciting evening, Hope. Your baby was officially born. And yes, we have to have a sense of humor.

This will be a story you can tell as you do conferences all around the country...

Barbara Techel said...

Oh, how this made me smile, laugh, and tear up. So happy for your Hope! And I could really resonate with the beautiful support of your sweeet hubby- I have one of those too. We are lucky gals.
Wishing you the very best with your novel- such an exciting time for you!

~Barbara

D.G. Hudson said...

You must have a very nice hubby. A mini celebration makes it memorable. Enjoy it, Hope.

Hope Clark said...

Hubby is in the background wherever I go. These days, he's saying he's my assistant, looking forward to being kept in grand manner once I reach bestseller status. Funny guy.

Melissa Crytzer Fry said...

Hope- congratulations! What a night to remember, indeed. I'm especially laughing at your hubby's icing technique (totally something MINE would be capable of doing)... And was his treat made of Ritz crackers? I LOVE it. Such a sweet, wonderful gesture.

So happy that your book baby has been birthed!

Hope Clark said...

Yeah - I tried to make it sound nicer than it was, but yes, Ritz. How can you mess that up, right? LOL It was a fun night.

Dana Sitar said...

Congrats! The night sounds so sweet and exciting. Glad to hear how easily you laugh at yourself; thanks for sharing it!

Civil War Horror (Sean McLachlan) said...

Congratulations! I wish you the best of success. When does the Kindle edition come out?

Lyn Fairchild Hawks said...

Congrats, Hope! How wonderful to have someone like your husband in your corner who gets you and your writing life. Very much looking forward to getting a copy of your book!

Lyn

BECKY said...

Congratulations, Hope! What a fun evening..sounds just like my kind! How can I buy an autographed copy of your book?! :)

Nikki said...

Hope, I laughed out loud reading this! Thank you so much for sharing such a fun, funny day. This post reminded me why I read your blog every day: it's as close as I can come to sitting down with you over a cup of coffee! You're a delight.
I hope your book sells a million copies. I'll buy mine this week, and spread the word. Yay, you!

Hope Clark said...

Sean - The Kindle edition is due out anytime now, per my publisher. We expected it last night.

Becky - I expect to receive about a hundred books this week. I'm not opening selling them myself, because I don't get credit for sales from those I have. Email me.