Author Copies Arrived

victoria stopp
Sitting with my books.

A Friday night stakeout on my front porch yielded fantastic results. Well after the sun set and the night bugs began their song, I sat on the concrete stairs and waited for the unmistakable rumble of a UPS truck. Instead, the low hum of a golf cart pulling a flatbed trailer signaled the arrival of a deliveryman, and I had to force myself to stay seated while he sorted through a load of packages.

The UPS man was a saint, a true gentleman, and made my big night even better with his kindness. He hauled almost 60 pounds worth of books to my front door, then asked if I needed help getting the boxes into the house. I did, but I told him I wanted to sit with the books for a while and just think. He asked if I was in a book club, and I told him that no, I wasn’t, and the boxes were full of my books, the first I’d ever gotten published. He seemed genuinely happy for me, and his care meant the world in that moment.

victoria stopp
An open box and 110 books.

I sat on the porch for several minutes, staring at the book boxes and touching their sturdy cardboard sides. I watched stars begin to show in the deepening darkness of the sky, and a million memories and thoughts pinged inside my brain and tugged at my soul. I had no idea where the book journey would lead, but I knew the arrival of my copies meant the start of something, a beginning of some sort, and I was grateful and ready.

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