I won!
I won a book!
I know - y'all are thinking that I don't need yet another book in my house. And where do I get off winning a book when I am around them all the time and have a discount?! Ha!
But it's a special book. Probably not to anyone besides me and the author, but still.
See, back in high school, me and my friends read a lot. We all had our special favorite genres (well, mostly fantasy and romance and science fiction), but we all enjoyed bucking 'the system.' We would read those bodice-ripper romances just to piss off our 9th grade science teacher.
That poor man was new to teaching and he had the misfortune to have us as his first class. He told us one day that he didn't think those books were appropriate material for us to be reading and he would take away the next one he saw. Oh, he really didn't know high schoolers, right?! Tell us something is inappropriate and we'll go out and do that very thing as soon as possible and as publicly as possible. The mom of one of my friends had a business where she sold (I think - I could be mis-remembering!) romantic aids and books. So, this friend brought a large grocery bag full of these bodice-ripper romances and everyone in the class put one on the corner of their desk. The teacher (name withheld to protect the naive) just about swallowed his tongue. And none of us got in trouble.
This story really doesn't have a whole lot to do with the book I won - just a fond memory. However, the book in question was one we passed around in high school and all enjoyed and it is a romance. The Rope Dancer by Roberta Gellis. Probably no one from high school will remember reading this book. And all I really remember about it is that I enjoyed it and wanted to re-read it. However, even with my resources (which were not inconsiderable - my mom's a librarian and I work in a bookstore), I could not find a copy. It, apparently, went out of print years and years ago. Sad, but not earth-shattering.
Cue MySpace, where I find that Roberta Gellis has a MySpace page! So, I friend her. And then I find out that she does book give-aways on a monthly (or so) basis. So, I enter one. And don't win. I enter the next one. And don't win. But, third time's the charm - I won! I asked for, and she happened to have, a copy of The Rope Dancer. Which she autographed and sent to me with a very nice little note. Exciting! So, I'm a quarter of the way through it, and it is just as entertaining as I remember. Yay!
I know - y'all are thinking that I don't need yet another book in my house. And where do I get off winning a book when I am around them all the time and have a discount?! Ha!
But it's a special book. Probably not to anyone besides me and the author, but still.
See, back in high school, me and my friends read a lot. We all had our special favorite genres (well, mostly fantasy and romance and science fiction), but we all enjoyed bucking 'the system.' We would read those bodice-ripper romances just to piss off our 9th grade science teacher.
That poor man was new to teaching and he had the misfortune to have us as his first class. He told us one day that he didn't think those books were appropriate material for us to be reading and he would take away the next one he saw. Oh, he really didn't know high schoolers, right?! Tell us something is inappropriate and we'll go out and do that very thing as soon as possible and as publicly as possible. The mom of one of my friends had a business where she sold (I think - I could be mis-remembering!) romantic aids and books. So, this friend brought a large grocery bag full of these bodice-ripper romances and everyone in the class put one on the corner of their desk. The teacher (name withheld to protect the naive) just about swallowed his tongue. And none of us got in trouble.
This story really doesn't have a whole lot to do with the book I won - just a fond memory. However, the book in question was one we passed around in high school and all enjoyed and it is a romance. The Rope Dancer by Roberta Gellis. Probably no one from high school will remember reading this book. And all I really remember about it is that I enjoyed it and wanted to re-read it. However, even with my resources (which were not inconsiderable - my mom's a librarian and I work in a bookstore), I could not find a copy. It, apparently, went out of print years and years ago. Sad, but not earth-shattering.
Cue MySpace, where I find that Roberta Gellis has a MySpace page! So, I friend her. And then I find out that she does book give-aways on a monthly (or so) basis. So, I enter one. And don't win. I enter the next one. And don't win. But, third time's the charm - I won! I asked for, and she happened to have, a copy of The Rope Dancer. Which she autographed and sent to me with a very nice little note. Exciting! So, I'm a quarter of the way through it, and it is just as entertaining as I remember. Yay!