So this past Tuesday was my book’s official pub date, but it turned out that Monday, May 10th, was the much more exciting day. First, on Monday morning, I found out that The Beautiful Between was reviewed in Publishers Weekly (this is my favorite part): “Sheinmel makes an impressive debut with an absorbing tale of unlikely friendship, loss, and family secrets…the intriguing and well-defined characterizations will keep readers riveted.”
But Monday became even better that afternoon because the folks at my office threw me a surprise party in honor of The Beautiful Between. They even had a cake with the book’s cover somewhat magically reproduced in frosting.
Now, I made my boss promise me that I wouldn’t have to speak at the party, because I was totally embarrassed, but if I had talked, I think I would have said something about how much I love Random House Children’s Books, how lucky I feel to work there, how much my life has improved – personally and professionally – since I began working there. After I graduated college, I wasn’t sure I would ever be good at anything other than being a student. But at Random House, I found mentors and friends, people who believed in me, who wanted to hear what I had to say, people whom I so respected that I wanted to work twice as hard for them. I honestly don’t believe I could have written The Beautiful Between had I not first worked at RHCB. I even started dating my husband soon after I began working there, and he totally used my new job as an excuse to ask me out, so if you think about it, I kind of owe my marriage to Random House, too.
So thank you, Random House Children’s Books, for making my life infinitely better, for being my home and my family, and for a cake with surprisingly delicious gray icing.
But Monday became even better that afternoon because the folks at my office threw me a surprise party in honor of The Beautiful Between. They even had a cake with the book’s cover somewhat magically reproduced in frosting.
Now, I made my boss promise me that I wouldn’t have to speak at the party, because I was totally embarrassed, but if I had talked, I think I would have said something about how much I love Random House Children’s Books, how lucky I feel to work there, how much my life has improved – personally and professionally – since I began working there. After I graduated college, I wasn’t sure I would ever be good at anything other than being a student. But at Random House, I found mentors and friends, people who believed in me, who wanted to hear what I had to say, people whom I so respected that I wanted to work twice as hard for them. I honestly don’t believe I could have written The Beautiful Between had I not first worked at RHCB. I even started dating my husband soon after I began working there, and he totally used my new job as an excuse to ask me out, so if you think about it, I kind of owe my marriage to Random House, too.
So thank you, Random House Children’s Books, for making my life infinitely better, for being my home and my family, and for a cake with surprisingly delicious gray icing.
That is one awesome cake!
ReplyDelete"It's got gray icing. I can't even begin to think how you'd make gray icing."
ReplyDeleteLooks DELICIOUS (and that was a movie quote and in no way reflects my actual feelings about gray icing). Love, your sis
A smile never changes. Congratulations Alyssa.
ReplyDelete-NM