Odds and Ends

A friend recommended this book because the author talked about the process of getting her first book published. He thought I could find some common ground and might think it interesting. So, I reserved the memoir from the library and promptly forgot about it.

No joke — I may have put that thing on hold nearly a year ago. When I received a notice a few weeks back that it was in, I almost left it unclaimed because my own attempts at a publisher hadn’t gone anywhere so why did I want to rub salt in the wound?

Well, because I like salt.

I am definitely a glutton for punishment. So even though reading it was like picking at a pimple (you know you shouldn’t and it hurts but yet you can’t stop yourself), I read, well, skimmed as I looked for the publishing bits.

Her idea was a handwritten cookbook with watercolor illustrations. Now that is an expensive book to publish and seems like it would have pretty limited appeal. These days, that would not fly. But guess what? It worked in the 1980s. She got published — and went on to publish a ton of books in the same, folksy manner.

I was so jealous and felt mean at some of the things I thought as I thumbed through, which included some pretty harsh judgments about the outfits she carefully described wearing to her meetings with publishers, which included socks with mary janes. Then I realized, I was being a bitch and the ’80s were not the best of times when it came to fashion. And, I shouldn’t be annoyed and angry because this woman had the same dream I did, it’s just that I have to work a lot harder if I want to see my book in print.

So, I ended up flipping back to the beginning and reading the whole thing in a weekend, and Branch charmed me with her bravery.

Good on her.