Well, a couple of hours ago Martha called to tell me that she was thrilled! perfectly thrilled! when she heard that my book was ranked #3 on Facebook. She was so thrilled!

Listen. I did not have the heart to tell her that 1) the book hasn’t been #3 in any rankings whatsoever and 2) Facebook doesn’t actually have a bestseller list. So instead I just thanked her for being so excited. Because, well, she has been so supportive and enthusiastic about everything that correcting her wasn’t even remotely worth it. It’s like when my mama talks about how I have “a blog on Google.” GOOD ENOUGH.

Anyway, I am here mainly to relay three bits-o-information. These things are certain to change your life forever. Except that they won’t. But perhaps they will serve as a light diversion.

– My friend Anne is hosting a book giveaway over at her blog.

– My friend Robin is also hosting a giveaway over at her blog.

– I have a book signing here in Birmingham tomorrow (Saturday, June 15th). It’s at the Brookwood Village Books A Million, and it starts at 3pm. They didn’t set an ending time, but my guess is that we’ll get to the end of the book signing line at approximately 3:08. I’ll stick around longer than that, though, just in case there are some weary Father’s Day shoppers who might like to sit down for a few minutes and visit.

That’s it for now. Hope y’all have a great weekend – and Go ‘Dogs!

Love,
Me

For as long as I can remember, I have had trouble keeping dates straight. I’ll get the day right and the date wrong, or the day wrong and the date right, or sometimes I’ll miss completely on both the day and the date. I’m also a person who frequently sends emails that say “I’ve attached so-and-so” when I’ve failed to attach anything at all. And you know those supply lists that teachers and coaches send home so that your child(ren) can make sure to have everything that’s needed at a certain after-school activity / camp / practice / game? I usually forget at least one thing on the list. Sometimes two. And I’ve been known to forget that there was even a list at all.

Given all of that, it didn’t really surprise me today when a friend of mine at Tyndale emailed me and said, “Um, there’s a little bit of confusion about your Tupelo book signing.” I put the wrong date on my book signing page, then put the right date in a blog post, and as you might imagine that left the correct date somewhat up in the air.

So here is the correct information, and I know it’s correct because I’m going to proof it about sixteen times after I type it out:

Tupelo, MS – Monday, June 17th – Reed’s Downtown – 3:30-5:00

And here’s a link to a (very correct and accurate) list of the other book-y gatherings.

I also have one more annoying thing to ask you, and then I’m going to put on my pajamas and crawl under the covers and watch one or fifty episodes of something-or-other on the TV. I should have mentioned this the day that the book came out, but I didn’t because it made (and continues to make) me uncomfortable, but I’ve decided that I’m being a little bit of a baby about it and I need to just go ahead and ASK IT, ALREADY.

So.

If you’ve read my book, would you please consider leaving a review for the book on whatever retailer you prefer? Amazon, BN.com, christianbook.com – doesn’t matter. Or Goodreads. Goodreads is good. But apparently reviews help with all sorts of fancy book-related metrics, so it’s good to have them. Unless they’re all 1-star reviews, I reckon, though a 1-star review is certainly a book buyer’s inalienable right and privilege and whathaveyou.

OH MY WORD I WANT TO HIDE FOREVER.

I also think it’s abundantly clear why I did not pursue a career in marketing or PR or anything of the sort. Because here would be my strategy for all first-time authors: 1) Write a book. 2) Hope for the best!

So now that I’ve said everything I need to say, I’m going to reward myself with some TV. And next week I am not mentioning That Thing They Call My Book even one time. Because for the rest of this week I am going to establish some television goals, and I am going to work hard to achieve those goals, and then I am going to write posts about what I have discovered and learned from the television.

This is what you might call A RETURN TO THE COMFORT ZONE.

Hallelujah and amen.

Well, it has been a jam-packed few days around here, so I’m going to resort to the list format. Honestly, between book stuff and college baseball (the ‘Dogs are in a rain delay right now), I’m not sure that I possess the ability to compose paragraphs. Unrelated sentences it is!

– The winner of last week’s giveaway for the cast iron skillet, a book, and All The Bacon is comment #487.

Congratulations, Lori M. – I’ll send you an email later tonight!

– I had a book signing in my hometown late last week, and when I wasn’t fighting back tears at the sight of a teacher from junior high or a friend from grad school or a buddy of Papaw Davis’, I had such a good time. I was especially happy to see my cousin Benji’s sweet girls – they are growing up so fast.

– It was my last post, I think, when I mentioned how much I’d been sleeping lately, and I apparently I spoke way too soon because the sleep, it has been oh-so-elusive the last four or five nights. FINGERS CROSSED that I turn a corner with the insomnia over the next couple of days because, well, I’M PUNCHY.

– There was another book signing in Jackson, MS this past Friday, and I got so tickled when I saw the sign outside of the bookstore.

I just never dreamed that I’d see my name and “$1 Domestic Beers!” on the same sign. It sort of made me feel like I should end my time at the bookstore by sitting on top of a piano and singing a medley of love songs from the 80’s. Anita Baker, anyone?

– State’s baseball game has now been postponed until tomorrow at 3. Quite frankly I don’t know if my nerves can take much more on the Road to Omaha.

– I’m pretty sure I’ve blogged about this before, but this bag by Scout is the very best road trip / beach bag I have ever used. Mine was a gift from Emma Kate, and it is one of my favorite things. The outside pockets are genius.

I realize that the bag has nothing to do with anything that I’ve mentioned today, but I love it a little more with every trip I take. It’s a keeper.

– This week is going to be like finals week for me; I have four articles to finish, and I’m going to try to stay away from the Internet until I am all done…otherwise I’ll wind up in some sort of YouTube vortex where I watch the opening numbers from old Miss America pageants over and over again. Then I’ll move on to the theme songs from 70’s sitcoms. And then it’ll be 4 in the afternoon and I’ll be wondering why I’m not finished with anything.

– I have a book signing here in Birmingham this Saturday, June 15th at the Brookwood Mall Books A Million. It’s at 3pm, and I’d love to see some of y’all there (she says, awkwardly). :-)

– Finally, thanks so much for your very kind emails and comments and tweets and etc. over the last week or so. There’s just no way to express how much your sweet words of encouragement have meant to me. I am oh-so-grateful.

Happy Monday, y’all!

For almost a year now, I’ve known that June 4, 2013 would be the day when this little book made its official debut.

And honestly, I’ve been thinking off and on all day about all the Heartfelt Sentiments I hoped to express in this post. I mean, I’ve carried this book around in my head and my heart for the last two years, and now some people may read it, and just thinking about the process of it all – not to mention how supportive my family has been – left me very reflective and weepy for most of the afternoon. Combine that weepiness with the fact that I am mildly terrified, and the end result is sort of a paranoid sentimentality that leads to a very tenderhearted series of unrelated thoughts. That’s why I actually sat in my car during Alex’s golf lesson this afternoon and tried to force my brain into organizational mode and figure out how to best communicate my feelings about June 4, 2013.

But then, for whatever reason, I decided to look at the Google and see if June 4th is any sort of holiday.

This is exactly the kind of thing I do when I’m starting to feel overwhelmed, by the way. I actively pursue diversion, and once I find it, I embrace it with my whole heart.

LISTEN AND LEARN, YOUNG PEOPLE.

And seriously, I really do get that jumping on the Google wasn’t the most logical course of action considering that I was hoping to Say Meaningful Things. But I feel like everything has been book, book, and more book lately, and I finally reached a point where I thought, Surely I can find some other reason why June 4th might be a significant date in my life.

And y’all, I could not have anticipated what all the Googling was going to teach me.

For starters, June 4th is Embarrassing Ailments Day. As someone who has suffered for most of her life with embarrassingly small ear canals as well as unusually high arches in both feet, I cannot tell you how much peace and comfort I find in knowing that there is an entire day devoted to the recognition and dare I say CELEBRATION of a host of little-known but occasionally shame-inducing ailments. I’m not sure who decided that this day should be A Thing, but well played, whoever you are.

On top of that, June 4th is Applesauce Cake Day. In the South we don’t make a whole lot of applesauce cakes, though I do remember one time when my friend Jonna made a cake and used applesauce instead of butter to cut down on the fat content (I was certain that she was a culinary genius, not to mention more disciplined than I’d ever thought about being), but if you are a fan of Applesauce Cake, Tuesday is your day. Maybe you can cook some pork chops and watch that Brady Bunch episode and then sample a variety of applesauce options. Before you eat your applesauce cake, of course.

But here’s THE BEST PART.

June 4th is also Frost Your Hair Day.

CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE IT?!?!?!

I mean, do you have any idea how many frosting kits I have purchased over the course of the last 25 years? (Well, not counting the last four years when I really have tried to avoid the home hair coloring.)

For a split second I really did wonder if I should commemorate the book release by sliding on one of those highlighting caps and giving my roots a little bit of a touch-up. After all, Frost Your Hair Day only rolls across the calendar once a year, and I’d hate to dishonor the date, especially when I don’t have another hair appointment for about three weeks and my roots are starting to be a source of embarrassment.

(Which works out well considering that it is in fact Embarrassing Ailments Day.)

(Though I don’t know if a failure to frost really qualifies as an ailment.)

(But considering that I count my high arches as an ailment, YES, ROOTS, YOU FALL INSIDE THE AILMENT BUBBLE.)

So, see? I LEARNED SOME THINGS today. And while I guess I’ve managed to sidestep a randomly arranged series of heartfelt sentiments, I do want y’all to know that I am deeply grateful for all of you, and I have been incredibly humbled and blessed by your encouragement. A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet may be the only book I ever write, but for whatever it’s worth, it comes straight from the center of my heart. I am so thankful that I got to share some of my family’s stories, and I hope that you’ll see your own family – whether it’s the family you were born into or the family you’ve chosen – as you flip through the pages.

And more than anything else, let’s all please remember to give June 4th the honor that it’s due and devote some quality time to our ailments, our applesauce cakes, and frosting our hair.

If you’re feeling especially kicky, you might even celebrate all three.

But by all means, pace yourself. I just read that June 5th is Fly A Kite Day.

You certainly don’t want to overdo it.

Love,
Me