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I am more than a little intimidated by the experience that awaits me this weekend. I am headed, thanks to Deseret Book, to the biggest gathering of authors, publishers and booksellers in the US - Book Expo America in New York City. I will be one of 1,000 authors trying to get the attention of anyone from Barnes and Noble (or anybody else for that matter.) It's a chance for authors to impress booksellers, convince them to order copies of their books, cajole the producers of the Today Show to let me meet Meridith!
I've wanted to write a book my whole life. I envisioned writing the great American novel as a young bookworm. This is definitely not that. But who knows? Maybe I'll still do that someday. (I know - naive optimism.) The book I did write is an inspirational book being published by a division of Deseret Book called Shadow Mountain. It comes out July 18th. It's title? "Wake Up to a Happier Life" The book is about how to have joy in whatever work you do, from hitting sales goals to changing diapers, and it's based on the experiences I've had in 18 jobs over 43 years. These are the stories and words of encouragement that I share with people when I give speeches all over the state.
I pray someone might want to read the book, although my insecurity fears that it's absolute drivel. Either way, I've enjoyed every moment of this experience - writing the book, working with the editors, picking the title and the cover, and now - traveling to the publishing capitol of the world.
Say a little prayer for the annoyingly enthusiastic girl from Utah who will try to tackle the Big City this weekend. Oh yeah - and look for my book with the adorable dog on the cover in mid July!!
