In Which An Unexpected Person Reads A Romance Novel

by Ami Weaver

So my very first book, AN ACCIDENTAL FAMILY, is on shelves now! I’m still pinching myself. It’s so surreal, the culmination of years of work and sweat and tears. (This book was HARD to write.)

But there’s one crucial thing I didn’t think about when I sold. And that is that people are going to read my book. Not just any people–people I am related to.

This is one of those things that is, well, blatantly obvious. You write a book, you pursue publication, then people read the book.

So, okay, people will read it. Got it. But I never dreamed my dad would read my book.

This announcement, delivered last week with much proud parent-ness, actually knocked my legs right out from under me. I was slightly horrified, thinking it’s not the kind of book a parent reads! (There is smooching. And more. Door is closed, but not completely!) Yes, I am adult. But somehow this just caught me off guard.

He was proud of me. And really, I was proud of him for reading his first romance novel, even if I was a bit shocked it was mine. I didn’t think he’d read it–I never even really thought about it. Oh, he said he would, and I was like, okay, sure, haha. My dad reads thrillers and non-fiction. My book is neither. I understood that he was proud of me, but thought it’d kind of end there. I mean, my dad hadn’t even heard of Harlequin before I sold to them.

Now, he brings a couple of copies for me to sign that his secretaries or other staff had bought. He talks it up to everyone he meets. Both my parents do. They took a bookstore to task for not carrying any Harlequin series books–very politely, my parents would never, ever ruffle feathers or be rude–but my mother said she thought they deserved shelf space, too.

My mom sent my 93-year-old grandma a copy as well. I wonder if she’ll read it. She’s not a romance reader either, but that didn’t stop my dad!