Surprises in the Mail...

Yesterday, my UK hardcover copies of RESCUED BY MR. RIGHT arrived yesterday. They were absolutely gorgeous. [FYI, the UK version isn't up on Amazon UK yet but here's a link to the US version]

RBMR is the book I wrote during my mother's illness and later, when she died. It was, without a doubt, the hardest book I ever wrote. Not only did the plot ironically center around a woman who had just lost her own parents, but it was set in the city where my parents grew up, and seemed to be God's way of making me work through this awful loss.

My mother died Oct. 9th and the book was due at the end of October. The first version I turned in was a mess. For the first time, I couldn't re-read what I had written (I normally do at least three complete read-throughs and revisions) because it was just too hard. My editor in London, bless her heart, was patient with me and helped me through the extensive revision. She was right on with everything she had me change, and I found that doing the revision was almost cathartic. It became the book I had envisioned and also became the book I am most proud of.

I opened the book yesterday and cried when I read the Dear Reader, which tells the story of this book, and the dedication, which is dedicated to my mother. Then I read the story--the first of my books I have ever read after they were published--and was so proud of the finished product. It was a nice epitaph, I think, to my mother and I can only hope she is smiling down on me from heaven.

Shirley