Not long after she lost her big blue purse at the local Walmart and shared the details of its eventual recovery on this very page, many of you began to encourage my mother to write a book. Well, congratulations. It worked. (Never mind the fact that I’ve been telling her to write a book for the last 30 years – she wasn’t convinced till she heard it from “my little Facebook friends.” Now, at 80 years of age, she’s finally a published author. Thanks to you.)
The book she’s written is called “About My Mother.” It’s a collection of warm and funny stories about growing up with the woman my brothers and I called Nana. (If you think my mother’s a piece of work, wait till you meet my grandmother. I’m tempted to say “there are no words,” but my mother has just come up with 40,000 of them, and strung them together in a way that makes me very proud. Bias aside, I can say with no reservation that you’re gonna love this book.)
Anyway, aside from writing the Foreword, (which I just finished,) I also agreed to publish her book and sell it online. (Seemed like a good idea at the time.) My plan was to surprise her by making it available for sale on Mother’s Day, but as it turns out, I don’t really know what I’m doing. The cover is done, as you can see, but the actual manuscript is still at the printer, and tomorrow, I need to tell them how many copies to print. Frankly, I have no idea. If I order too few, there won’t be enough to go around and people will yell at me. If I order too many, I’ll wind up with a garage full of books, and people will yell at me. I probably should have set up a place where people could pre-order, but like I said, I don’t really know what I’m doing.
So, let’s do this – if you’d like to reserve a copy of About My Mother, please drop me a line today at news@mikeroweworks.com. In the subject line, please write, “I WANT PEGGY’S BOOK!” That’ll give me a sense of how many to order tomorrow. Then, when the book goes on sale a few weeks from now, I’ll notify you a day in advance. That way you’ll be guaranteed a copy.
Many thanks for being so nice to my Mom, and for encouraging her to write this book. It is truly, a love letter to Mothers everywhere.
Mike
PS. How’s this for a last minute Mother’s Day Gift idea? Copy the above photo, along with the below message from me, and email it to your mother…
“Hi there! Mike Rowe here! I’m writing to let you know that your offspring has purchased a Mother’s Day Gift with your name on it! It’s a copy of my Mom’s new book, “About My Mother.” Actually, they haven’t purchased it yet because…well, because I haven’t provided them with a means to do so. However, they did reserve a copy just for you, which they’ve promised to pay for, assuming I can facilitate the transaction. Once that happens, I’ll be hand-delivering your copy in person, sometime next month.
Oh, wait. I just remembered, I’ll be busy next month shooting another season of Returning the Favor, so in all likelihood, your copy of “About My Mother” will be delivered by the United States Postal Service. Regardless, your offspring love you very much in spite of the tardy arrival of your gift. Please forgive them, and please enjoy my Mom’s new book when it finally arrives.
And Happy Mother’s Day!
Mike Rowe