Signing Books...My New Frontier!

So I'm finding that occasionally someone will show up with a copy of my book that they'd like me to sign. And this sensation is...exciting and intimidating all in one! Oh, the history of book signing. When I look back at some of the exquisite signatures of my favorite authors, or the carefully plotted sentiments they expressed alongside their names, I feel the weight of a tradition pressing down upon me. And I feel an obligation to do it right! Or at least, in a way that's right for me.

Don't get me wrong, I have no illusions of greatness here. I simply feel that, when someone has gone to such great trouble and expense as to purchase my book and actually read it-AND they still want me to sign it, well, I want to do it right! I've been reading up on what others do, and thinking about myself.

I suppose it's not right to say, 'Thanks for buying my book!' though I'm sure for many authors that's the first thing they think-at least in the early years! But I also feel compelled to do more than simply sign my name behind a trite 'Yours Truly'.

I'm not a big signature collector myself, but then, I saw this one online (pictured here) and have to admit that Anne Morrow Lindbergh's signature (the author of Gift From the Sea) would be a treasure for me.

So, to each his own! If you ask for it, I'll do my best...just be patient with me, I'm learning!

Gift from the Sea

It seems only fitting that my first post should be a tribute to Anne Morrow Lindbergh's wonderful book, Gift from the Sea. True, it was written in a simpler time, when women's roles were more defined...for better or worse. But Anne was a worldly gal, and she got the big picture.

My copy is dog-eared and highlighted in multiple neon translucent shades. The first draft of The Shell Keeper actually had a quote from her wonderful book at the start of each chapter. Numerous edits determined....sadly, that it was better not to include them. But her voice stays in my mind and I hope its spirit is in my book.

Del, Claire and Gwen, my 'gals' in The Shell Keeper are all learning, in Anne's words, to live through the ebb-tides of one's existence. The shells Anne wrote about back in 1955, as concepts for the passages of a woman's life, also inspire Gwen as she captures their beauty and characters on canvas.

If Gwen had read Gift from the Sea she would surely have pulled out her hot pink highlighter to underscore this: And my shells? They are there to remind me that the sea recedes and returns eternally.