I Give Thanks In This World Too
Shortly I'll be posting a picture of the title page of my copy of Elmore Leonard's new book "Road Dogs" which I'm currently reading. Actually "devouring" would be a better term. The book has been reviewed by better critics than I and raved over, not to mention having a full four stars of Amazon reader reviews so I won't go into all the details though I will say everything you've ever heard about Leonard's writing is absolutely spot on: the story rockets off the pad on page one and the dialogue is crackling.
But the excellence of the book is not the point of the post. The point is to give a huge shout out to Advice Goddess Amy Alkon who was instrumental in my getting the book autographed. In fact the book link above goes to Amy's Amazon mall which is a very good way to order not just the book but other Amazonia as she gets a spiff in the process. I don't think it's quite right to go into all the process of how I ended up getting the signed book but it was through Amy and her man Gregg's good graces that I now have this wonderful thing (I am stupid crazy for autographed books as long as they're autographed to me). So I hereby publicly say that Amy is more than an Advice Goddess, she is a Manolo-esque Superfantastic Person. And I'll say the same about Gregg despite my direct interactions being solely with Amy. Thank you, thank you, thank you both.
Plus this also gives me a moment to say what a wonderful thing the internet is. It's through the blog and blogrolling that I first e-mailed Amy and she, despite her pressing schedule (she does way cool things - way cooler than the stuff I dither around with), has always been great about returning e-mails. It's fascinating. I got to know Jake Armerding by first hearing his music on a steaming online radio station. This wide whirl of a web has brought all sorts of wonderful things into my life and my gratitude for them, the music, the people, the friendships, the caring that I've experienced can not be properly expressed.
Keep an eye peeled in the next couple of days for the picture (yes, it will show my real first name) and one more deep bow in Amy's direction when that post is thumbtacked to the blogosphere. And hey! Amy has a book coming out in October. Buy it dang ye!