More excited than me

My book popped up on Amazon.com last week, available for preorder. I have a Google alert set up for my name, and last Tuesday, it alerted me to the novel’s appearance on the site. Since then it’s been popping up on sites like the Borders and Random House website.

Very exciting.

I told my mother-in-law about the news and she wrote:

WOW WOW

I will order it - I will be the FIRST!

Less than an hour later, she wrote:

I ordered it - I'm the first one and now I can't wait for it to come!

YAY YAY

Will you sign it when it comes?

Yes, I know that you will….

I'm so excited!

It’s almost as if she has co-opted my excitement. No matter the event, it's almost impossible to match this woman's enthusiasm.  This is the same woman who sent me this gem a couple weeks ago:

Behind every successful man is a surprised mother-in-law.

A few months ago I went into New York to record an interview with my editor that will be used in the promotion of the book (see the photo below). I decided to invite my mother-in-law along, giving us the chance to spend the day together. Never having parents who gushed over me or my accomplishments (as far as I can tell, my mother died never knowing that I was a state champion pole vaulter), it’s always amusing to watch my mother-in-law talk about my accomplishments to others. Wherever we go, she is constantly introducing me as “Her son-in-law, the author,” and that day in New York was no exception. When she first met my editor, Melissa, she pointed at me and said, “Isn’t he brilliant?”

How does one respond to a question like that?

I’ve heard about sons and daughters who are embarrassed by their parents for making a big deal out of their children’s successes and accomplishments, but I’ve always thought them to be foolish, unappreciative and narrow minded, unaware of their good fortune.

I must admit that I understand this embarrassment a little better now, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.