Sparkly Green Earrings

So.

Y’all.

This week is a big week in my little corner of the world. After four years of back and forth and maybe I’ll write a book and no I can’t write a book and now I’ve written a book but books take forever to actually come out and be placed on bookshelves in bookstores, Sparkly Green Earrings officially releases this Friday, February 8th and rumor even has it that it’s already on the shelves in various stores.

(By which I mean that I saw it at Lifeway and it was on a middle shelf and I moved it to the top shelf next to Jen Hatmaker’s book because I’m no dummy.)

I feel like I’ve been pregnant for about twenty-six months. The good news is I’m having a book and not a baby elephant.

Although I think baby elephants are very cute.

Sparkly Green Earrings is so special to me. I remember being about ten years old and picking up a copy of Erma Bombeck’s book If Life Is A Bowl of Cherries Then What Am I Doing in the Pits? and reading it from cover to cover because I thought it was hilarious even though I had to be too young to understand some of it. And while I am no Erma Bombeck, I wanted to write a book that you could leave out on your coffee table and not be afraid for your ten year old to pick it up and start reading. In our culture of trashy commercials and other questionable things, that’s become a rarity. I wanted to write a book that will hopefully make you laugh and cry and feel a little less alone.

As much as it all still doesn’t seem real, I look at Sparkly Green Earrings sitting on my bookshelf and it’s a reminder that God sees us. He sees the little dreams we have that we’re scared to voice out loud but whisper as a prayer in the dark. And then he works all things together for his good and puts pieces together in ways we never could have imagined.

SparklyGreenEarings4 from Big Mama on Vimeo.

I couldn’t be more humbled. And grateful. And so appreciative because none of this would have happened if y’all didn’t show up here to read the silly words I type out on the computer every day.

Over the last year I have been so thankful for your kind words and your prayers and your support. You have encouraged me and blessed me and cheered me on more than I can ever convey. You’re a part of this book, in one way or another, and I would love for you to be a part of it again this week as it’s released.

And on Friday I have a really fun giveaway planned just to say thank you for all your support.

Here are some ways you can help make the launch of Sparkly Green Earrings a success. You can do all of these or any combo. Or you can do none of them. I mean that. But maybe you could still buy a copy and use it as a doorstop or for kindling on a cold winter’s night.

1. Buy the book

It’s officially out this Friday, but I happen to know a few of these retailers are already shipping it out. I’ve also heard it’s even at Sam’s Club and I don’t know if anything says REAL AUTHOR like being sold in the same place people can buy toilet paper and dog food in bulk quantities.

Here’s a handy widget if you’d like to purchase it from one of the following places online.

2. AMAZON REVIEW

You can start leaving reviews for the book on Friday and it would be great if you would take the time to leave a review. I’m not sure why that’s important, but people who know things tell me it is.

And I believe them because, while I can tell you all about the Crawley family or Friday Night Lights, I know shockingly little about book sales.

You can just briefly write your thoughts on the book and don’t feel like you need to lie and say it’s the best book you’ve read since To Kill A Mockingbird. However, I hope it’s better than the instruction manual that came with your refrigerator. I have lofty goals.

3. SOCIAL MEDIA

Feel free to post about it or tweet about it or hire one of those airplanes that writes stuff in the sky.

You can also find easy ways to share the book or tweet or pin or hashtag or whatever the kids are doing these days on the official book page.

Also, I’d love to see pictures when you have the book or see it at a store. Nothing would make me happier than seeing my book in your hands. Except maybe if it’s in a shopping cart full of economy sized toilet paper and Ol’ Roy dog food.

4. TELL YOUR FRIENDS

You know, everyone you see today. And tomorrow. And this week.

And for the next year.

5. PRAY

This book is the thing in my life that God wouldn’t let me give up on. And I don’t know why. But my prayer is that it makes women everywhere know that they are normal and we all make mistakes and sometimes we all want to run away from home to a really nice hotel. I want it to be an encouragement and help us all take some time to laugh.

The bottom line is that I’m beyond grateful for you. It means so much that you even care about Sparkly Green Earrings.

For me, this is a dream come true. And it’s also filled with a little bit of insecurity as evidenced by all the dreams I’ve had in the last week where I’m jumping off a cliff and realize there’s no net or someone tells me my nose is too big or my eyebrows are too wild.

But y’all are my safe place.

Thanks for being a part of this. And now I will stop before I start crying and can’t stop and get those ugly puffy eyelids.

Love you so much.

Thank you isn’t enough.