So my Aunt Kathy, she the purveyor of all of my adult-sanctioned ditch days from both grade school and high school, not to mention supplier of the world's best junk food and movies for the evenings immediately prior to said ditch days, calls me up tonight to tell me she's just returned from her local Target and her heart burst with pride upon seeing that Tales From The Scale has a place in everyone's favorite discount store.

"I was so proud that I turned to a complete stranger standing next to me and told her that it was my niece's book," she exclaimed. "Of course, the woman ran right out the door to, I assume, get a restraining order on me I was so excited."

Hearing that Tales is in a Target isn't news; I've received several emails lately from people telling me that it's shown up in Target stores all over the country. I have to admit this is a pretty awesome development considering Target only has a limited amount of books that they carry. Even one of my readers said to me the other day that somehow seeing it at Target made it that much cooler.

I told this to my aunt but it didn't seem to phase her much. She was just so happy to see it. That's the wonderful thing about the people who truly love you; no matter how adjusted you've become to your own accomplishments, they will always, without fail, continue to swell with pride and support. If you're my aunt, however, you take it a step further.

"So I was standing there all happy about your book when I noticed it was next to some Oprah Book Club selections," she said. "So I removed one of the stickers ..."

"What sticker," I asked.

"The 'Oprah Book Club' sticker," she answered.

"And you did what, exactly?"

"I pulled off the sticker and put it on your book," she said.

"YOU DID WHAT," I yelped. "Did you just turn my book into an 'Oprah Book Club' selection?"

"After I put the sticker on your book, I moved all of the copies to the end caps," she said, without missing a beat. "I think I'm going to walk around with a razor blade now so I can do that anytime I see your book in a store.

"People will buy anything if they see that sticker."

If The Smoking Gun comes after me, I'm sending them to my aunt to let her deal with them.

Posted by Erin at 08:53 PM | filed under: Odds and ends

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