Category: Family

First Daughters: Please read my book!

11/17/2012

Like many people watching the President and the first family on November 7, I was struck by how tall Malia and Sasha have become. Wait! When did they grow up so fast?

My next thought: Is it too late for them to read my middle-grade novel?

For Malia, 14 and a high school freshman at Sidwell Friends, the answer is yes. But if I could be so bold, I think Sasha, 11, would love My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer.
This brazen idea came to me last spring when President Obama came out in support of gay marriage on May 9, just two days before my book launched. I wanted to send him the book as a thank you but I knew it was impossible to just send it to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Here's what I did:

Step 1: Ask Mom for help
My parents live in Vermont, and are huge Democratic Party supporters. My mom sings in the Colchester Community Chorus alongside Tom Berry, an aide to Senator Patrick Leahy. She gave him a copy to give to Leahy. He did! The senator was nice enough to write back: (see photo at right).

OK I'm glad the Leahy grandchildren are reading My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer... still no Obama connection.

Step 2: Ask Dad for help
Then we thought of Howard Dean. My dad is a physician who worked with the doctor-turned governor at the University of Vermont. Howard is actually mentioned in the book (on page 51), when he signed the civil union bill into law on April 26, 2000 (the first in the nation!). Howard was wonderful--he read the book, gave me a blurb, and now I have a signed copy!

Howard's copy of my book is signed to him so I don't think it ended up in Sasha's hands...

Step 3: Ask you for help
After this election, it feels like we've reached a tipping point on gay marriage. Vermont's civil union law was the first move; My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer captures that historic moment. Plus June bakes a mean pie and has some great adventures on Lake Champlain.

Can you help? Maybe your cousin is an intern for the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation. Maybe you serve Senator Bernie Sanders coffee when he's home in Vermont. Maybe you know the librarian at Sidwell Friends. Maybe you exchange tweets with the First Lady. I'd be grateful if you tweeted or posted this blog! And do you think I should just send it to the White House, to Sasha's attention?

Give them a hand

5/25/2012

For everyone who aspires to write a book, it's true -- there is nothing more thrilling than opening that first box of hardcover books and seeing your name on the cover. Yet lately I've been struck by something more. I'm even more amazed by all the helping hands.

Promoting MY MIXED-UP BERRY BLUE SUMMER is like balancing on a log, trying to stay on top -- and every hand extended fills me with gratitude. The hands that are keeping my feet from slipping into oblivion belong to:

friends, who are buying the book for nieces, grandchildren, and themselves;
family members, who are making sure the book is on the shelves of their local bookstores, schools and libraries;

Vermont College faculty and friends, for blurbing and talking it up;
My editor and HMH marketing folks for enthusiastic support;
booksellers, who are agreeing to let me come and read even though it's a dying practice;
people who know me from the ferry, church or work who tell their friends about the book;
and reporters, who review and feature the book plus that crazy copyeditor who gave me a big head!

Writing is solitary work. It's just me and my computer (although I often talk to myself as a I puzzle out plot). Selling is social -- and I thank everyone for pitching in and helping me get across the stream!

First Daughters: Please read my book!

Give them a hand

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