The first book signings and a sense of accomplishment

Thursday afternoon, while I was at work, I received a very excited email from Steph, announcing that the first big shipment of So Faithful a Heart that was ordered in a group order had arrived!  When I announced it at work, one of my co-workers exclaimed, "Ooooooh! Go home and get them!" Since our little house is only blocks from where I work, I did as she suggested and picked up the books that had been ordered by several of my co-workers and took them back to the office. There I signed them and passed them out to those who had purchased one. Then on Thursday evening, I sat down after dinner and signed the remaining copies.

Last Sunday evening we had our dear friend, Dr. Allen Scott (who was the chair of my graduate committee when I was in graduate school several years back and has since become one of our dearest friends and is like family to us), over for dinner. It was Allen, who when he saw my passion for the subject, suggested that I do my graduate thesis on Nancy Storace and her relationship with Mozart. If it hadn't have been for Allen's insight and observations so many years ago, this book probably would never have happened. When I handed him a copy of the book, he beamed with pride for his former student, and asked, "So how did it feel when you held it in your hands for the first time?" I told him that it was indescribable. "There's a sense of  personal accomplishment that I've never sensed over anything else in my entire life!" He just smiled, and said that he was really proud of me.