Tunnel vision, the bypass and the book

I'm not going to write about the proposed tunnel underneath downtown Sandpoint. I also promise not to write about the Sandpoint Bypass. And, I'm not giving too many secrets away about the book. There is a commonality, however, and I've reached that point.

There IZ light at the end of the tunnel, and the book WILL appear before the Bypass does.

That said, I must explain. Book publishing is a bit like building bypasses, and sometimes the process seems to last almost as long as Sandpoint's talk/debate/impatience about a bypass around the town----let's see are we pushing 60 years on that subject? Fortunate for blog readers, my occasional updates on book progress do indicate some forward motion.

Today I pick up the almost final, final version and read it again. That's called the galley. This time it will include all corrections from the product I reviewed two weeks ago. In addition, the graphic formatting will appear. Yesterday, I received a black-and-white copy of the front cover to send off to the Appaloosa Journal for an ad. I've yet to see the cover in its entirety, but that may happen this morning. Once any last-minute corrections are keyed in, the book heads to the printers and should return in completed form and ready for consumption four weeks later.

So, my weekend will be spent reading my own book for about the fourth or fifth time. Wouldya believe, I've read it so much I even know what's happening in the end of every story! In fact, I've got it memorized and could almost quote you lines just like all "Monty Python" followers, "Napoleon Dynamite" aficionados and "Friends, Romans, countryman" sufferers (who passed through my classes) can do. If only this one could become half the classic of the aforementioned, I'd be a happy camper.

In anticipation of such success with my final product, let's try a few choice nuggets for memorization and see if a large audience of earlybirds could spout these great lines within individual stories on command.

• "Did you dye your hair? . . . Marianne, it's time"----these quotes came to mind because prior to yesterday afternoon's session with my personal beautician Joyce, the second comment would have been appropriate, but if I were sitting in front of a class of juniors this morning, I'd be sure to hear the first---no need for memorization there.
  
• "What are the adverb questions?" . . . "When?" . . . Response: "Just now." . . . "Why?" . . . Response: Someone ate beans . . . ." These appear in the earthy chapter called "Get My Drift." Probably no need to explain and more than likely no need to memorize.
• "Well, why didn't you give them to us?" [notes sent home from Mrs. Sawyer to young Mr. Love's parents] "You never asked for them." This one may take a little more work, but I'm sure anyone who's ever had a kid has learned to ask questions----and maybe even interrogate.
• "No---she would never do such a thing. We didn’t get along so well," I told the dean. “I’m sure she hated me." . . . "She said you'd say that," the well-informed voice announced next. Only an "Angel" named Angela knows this one now, but it's definitely a keeper in the quote department.

So, there ya go. An assignment. There are more such excerpts that could turn into classics, but we'll wait until the book appears before deciding which ones get the nod. In the meantime, I am seeing light in that tunnel and I'm proud to announce that "Lessons with Love" will, indeed, appear in Sandpoint long before the bypass does. In the meantime, do your memorizing!