About me

View my complete profile
Claudia
I wrote my first novel, Smudge's Mark, in a closet. No joke.
Sunday, July 12, 2009

Rumors

So, I was hearing these rumors, see. And when you keep hearing the same rumors over and over again, well, you just have to confirm them for yourself, right? I mean, you can't go on forever just taking the word of people who call you up or email you to tell you the juicy news. There comes a point where you just have to go see it for yourself.

Well, today was the day. I finally caved and went to see for myself if the rumors I was hearing were true. I got in the car and drove. When I parked, I thought I was going to be sick. I felt all light-headed and dizzy. My hands are sweating right now as I type, just thinking about it.

"Do NOT make a scene," I say to my husband as we park the car.

"What do you mean?" he asks.

I roll my eyes.

I pulled myself out of the car and somehow got my feet to walk me up to the door. I don't remember opening the door or even how I got to the spot I needed to go - I just got there. And when I did, my eyes went on autopilot and frantically started scanning the shelves.

Holy smokes! Since when did Chapters get so many darned books? I thought to myself as my heart did flips and my eyes started drying out for lack of blinking. It's not here. It's not here. I knew it wouldn't be...

Ack! There's my book!! Right there on the shelf above Eragon!! Somebody catch me!

A young girl was sitting on the floor right by the shelf browsing through the books. "What kinds of books do you like to read?" my husband asks her.

I knew I should have left him at home.

She looks at him like any normal person would look at a complete stranger asking her what kinds of books she likes to read and says, "I don't know," in a very pre-teen girl kind of way.

"This one's really good," says my husband, pulling Smudge's Mark from the shelf.

The girl stands up and walks away.

So do I.

Then I hear him taking pictures. Gotta love his enthusiasm.

Anyway, the rumors are true: Smudge has made an early appearance on some shelves at Chapters. So the next time you go there, take a look and see if you can find a copy. And if you see that poor pre-teen girl my husband scared off, please apologize for me.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

you are so funny, you really have to write a column, a day in the life kind of thing!

Jodi Cleghorn said...

I agree - this is my first chance to see your writing out side of Twitter.

Belated congrats on Smudges Mark making it onto the shelves. Is there an Australian release slated? I'd love to take a photo of your book on an Australian shelf.

Esther said...

I'm going to have to check it out! Good for you!!