My thank yous-2nd attempt

As I looked over my posts, I realize somehow my thank yous did not print.  So I will again attempt to say my thanks.

To my kids, thanks for your comments and suggestions.  I will keep them in mind for my next book.

To Eric, thanks for believing in me and listening to me talk about this over and over and over and over and....  For not nagging me while the kitchen was a wreck with my papers and other book related items were scattered about.  Thanks also for listening to Christmas music 3 weeks before Thanksgiving so I could get into the spirit while I worked on my book.  But at least it was Nat King Cole and not Buck Owens.

And last, thanks to my mom and dad, Christine and Ernest (Brud) Gilreath.  For instilling a love of reading, and always having newspapers, books and magazines at our house.  For making sure that I had a few dollars to order books from the Weekly Reader book site when the teachers were getting an order together.  I hope you like the book and I hope I made you proud.

I love all of you.

Back cover

 

This is the back cover of my book.  The lower left corner contains a number that is assigned to an author for the title of their book.  Book stores, Amazon, libraries, churches, schools and other people who order books can go to a website and look for a specific category.  Books are catalogued under children, biographies, fiction, etc...  It lists the type of binding, the measurements, the price, pages and other things that help someone decide whether or not to purchase it.  So depending on how much someone has in their budget could determine if your book gets picked or not. 

I have had a library card since I was 7 or 8 years old.  That was something else that my parents believed in.  We probably went to the Belmont Public library 2-3 times a month.  The library cards had a small piece of metal embedded in it.  Mrs. Dunlap was the librarian and I can still hear the 'clunk' when she would put the book card into the machine to stamp the return date on it.  And I can still see the little tables and wire chairs that sat in the children's section. 

The Christmas tree is what I chose for the Summerville Stories trademark.  Like many other families in the 60s, we had an aluminum Christmas tree.  Ours had red ball ornaments and yes, we had the 4 color wheel that shined on the tree.  It was only natural that I pick something that I remembered about my childhood. 

I hope if you are reading my blog that you will visit my Facebook page-Summerville Stories.  In the next few weeks, I hope that people will start posting some of their favorite memories of their past Christmases.  Whether it is about the stockings that the textile mills gave their employees or the treat bags that the churches fixed for their members.  I want to hear them all.  So put your thinking caps on and let me hear from you.

The original manger scene

This is the manger scene that started it all.  1984. 

The book-cover

The book-page 1

The book is finished!

So I have finished my book!  Received my ISBN so it can officially be catalogued.  I am now a published author.  Long way from Catawba Heights Elementary School.  This is where any teacher who is reading this should say 'Thank a teacher today'.

Selling for $10.  Cute book to start a tradition with your family. 

About the author

For the past few days I have been trying to think of what to write in the section 'About the Author'.  Unless you have tried to do this, you don't realize how hard it is.  What I have decided on is a very short bio about my family.  I'm sure that everyone would say that it should be about me since I wrote the book.  I have to disagree.  My family started the tradition many years ago and I feel that they should be included. 

After I finish this part, I will be ready to put my contact information out to the public.  Thanks to everyone for your support.