This Day

I have some lovely news, news I've been sitting on for over a year now.

Remember last summer when I lost my mind? I fantasized about dipping my children in chocolate and eating them? I also cried about 'The Big Deal' a lot? That was a really fun summer!

Early in that summer of my discontent I heard about a project from Julie Moos who was my editor when I wrote for DotMoms. A book had already been written, collecting diaries from American women on one day in a year and then they made a book out of it. I went ahead and put my name in with the other 493 participants.

Some women I greatly admire as writers partcipated and when I heard Eve Pearlman was writing for the project I thought, 'Okay, never mind, I'll never be picked.' When I heard Julia S would be writing as well, "I said, there is absolutely nothing I could write which would be more compelling than even Julia's grocery list."

Instead of giving up, on June 29, 2004, I ignored the fact that far more interesting women than Melissa Summers were attempting to be published in a book.

On Max's first day of preschool, over a year ago, I was interviewed for my 'Author Profile'. Surreal is the only way to describe that experience. Out of the 493 participants in the 'This Day: 2004' project, 34 diaries were chosen to be published in full.

Melissa Summers was one of those chosen. Melissa Summers is on a list with Johnny and June Cash's daughter Rosanne. Which is sort of not that important to me but freaks Logan right out because his favorite karaoke tune is Johnny Cash's 'Ring Of Fire' and it burns, oh it burns.

Also, it freaks Logan out when I talk about myself in the third person.

So for over a year I've been sitting on this news, but the other day Joni Cole emailed me the review from Publishers Weekly, which said, among other lovely things, "There is not one piece in this compilation that is not captivating."

Also the book is officially being released in December and it's up for pre-order on Amazon and that means it's finally real and I can tell the internet about it. I'm going to be printed in an actual book!

I beat the shit out of myself on a day to day basis. To be chosen to have my day diary published over some of the women I admire so much is such an amazing honor.

So for today I'll stop calling myself a lazy fat ass. I'm going to be published in an actual book and that is incredibly amazing.

Comments

[Lisa V]

Congratulations. That is incredible, you should be very proud. But even though you are surprised, I'm not. I've been loving what you write for a long time.

[Theresa]

Congratulations, Melissa! You've earned this honor! Can't wait to read that book.

[Nancy France]

Congratulations Melissa!

Well DONE!

[Michelle K.]

Congratulations! I think you are more than deserving of a space in this book. You are a captivating writer in your own right, and that's what keeps me coming back to your site day after day.

[Melissa W]

congratulations! what a wonderful turn of events. keep that feeling in your back pocket so you can whip it out on a day when you're thinking "objects in mirror are larger than they appear"

[Bella]

Wow!! That is *amazing, incredible, huge* news! Congratulations!

[Nopoodle]

How incredible for you! I can't wait to read it.

[sam]

Congratulations! I am so happy for you, can't wait to read it when it's released. I would pay $$ to see Logan sing Ring of Fire, it's one of my favorite songs.

[lindsay]

That is so flippin' sweet!

[Nothing But Bonfires]

It's being published in December? Christmas present quandaries SOLVED! That's what everyone I know will be getting. Excellent.

[kim]

Fabulous!

[Victoria]

Melissa, that is brilliant! Congratulations to you. Can't wait to see the book.

[Emily G.]

Congratulations! Hooray!

[Bethany]

This is like... um, F**KING FANTASTIC! Come on girl, jump up and down like you mean it! Woo hoo!

Have it pre-ordered as we speak. Perfect gift for all my blogging and not blogging friends. And one for myself too. :-)

WAY TO GO!

[roo]

Congratulations!

[Liz]

That's awesome. I don't have time now to click on all those links because the kids need the computer for "homework", but I will check back tomorrow.

Also, my 13 year old daughter begged for a Johnny Cash CD, because she heard the song Ring of Fire on the bus and couldn't get it out of her head.

[ChristyD]

Way to GO!! What a thrill, and your kids will be able to say their mom was a well-known author. Amazing!

[Kelly]

Wow! That's amazing news! Congratulations. I went to the Amazon link, and then of course, I clicked back to look at June 29, 2004, to see what had been entered, but I'm guessing you sent it to them, and didn't post it online? Or maybe I'm just a dill and didn't read very closely.

Either way, congratulations, that's an amazing compliment, to be included with amazing women writers. However, it's not an ill-directed compliment, they just realized what we've all figured out. =)

[beth]

Woohoo! Congratulations. I think that project is an awesome idea and I can't wait to read the book. And, coincidentally, I used to work for the publisher that published the first "This Day" book, so I worked with Joni, Becky, and Bindi on that when it came out in 2003. I'm happy to see a new version coming out with talented writers (like yourself!) and a bigger publisher.

[Mir]

Awe.Some.

[Julia S]

Fan-frelling-tastic!

I am thrilled for you.

[alice]

Congratulations! The next time I see you, will you autograph my boob?

(Like you need an excuse.)

[susan]

As I read this, I started to cry, because it made me so happy.

Congratulations! And now I need a tissue.

[jenB]

i am crying. i am so happy for you and everyone else chosen. but specially you, cause i love you.

[stillheidi]

I am thrilled for you! I hope you are on cloud 9!

[cst]

congratulations to you, melissa! what a feat. :)
i wish i'd known about this project, as i had a great day on june 29th, 2004 - i got engaged.

[Sarah]

Congrats! What great news. Can't wait to see it at the bookstore.

[Eulallia]

You are awesome! Good for you!

[Marnie]

OMG, you freak. You are NOT a lazy fat ass. You are an interesting, engaging woman, who writes with a flair most of us could only hope for. I can't wait to get my book.

[FlippyO]

Cool. May this just be the beginning of many more "Good Days".

[nicole]

i'm so happy for you i just cried.
mazel tov.

[alice]

kickass!

[DeLovely]

You're in good company, and that says a lot. I hope you revel in that fact for a long time. Congratulations, Melissa!

[Zach]

Right on!

Kelly, what's a 'dill'?

[Bethiclaus]

Congratulations! That is so cool!

[Bethiclaus]

Congratulations! That is so cool!

[Debbie]

That is great! I'm jealous. Trying to be a writer myself.

Really awesome about your hubs loving Johnny Cash too. I was raised on Johnny Cash. My brother is NOT named Sue.

[Sarah]

Yay!! Your first of many. Congratulations!!

[traci]

Congrats!!! You deserve it. Can't wait to read it.

[kelly]

Melissa! Congratulations! Will you believe all of us now when we say you rock the house?

[Shelly]

I just pre-ordered it!!! I have really enjoyed reading your blog! I've also ordered a book called Tales from the Scale by Erin J. Shea that another fellow blogger contributed to. I wish I was as good of a writer as you, you really know how to tell a story. I still read you with the voice of Tea Leoni, I think you look so much like her!! Congrats!

[Michelle]

That is fantastic, Melissa! Congratulations! Pre-ordered my copy already! :) Can't wait!

[sarah]

Yay for you!

[divinecalm]

That's phenomenal! You're living proof that although the odds might be against us, we still have to go for what we want. We never know how it might work out!!!

CONGRATS!!!

[Mar]

Congratulations - how wonderful! And incredibly well deserved. Next time it will be you and your own book.

And how good of you to be able to keep your mouth shut for a whole freakin' year - that alone would have kept me up nights!

[Sue]

Congratulations!!!!

[Kendra]

Congratulations, Melissa!
You are a fabulous writer. You deserve this honor.

[Laurie]

You. Are. Awesome.

[Dreadmouse]

I prostrate myself before your amazingness. Well done!

[Cheryl]

Well Done and deserved...looking forward to reading you in print.

[Kelly]

I'm not surprised at all -- you are much more talented then you think!! I hope you are able to bask the glory of this big success until the next one comes along. And it will!!! Just think, many years from now your great grand children will be able to see a book that you were featured in. how cool is that?!?

[LadyBug]

Oh, how exciting! Congratulations!

[EverydaySuperGoddess]

Congratulations Melissa! That is HUGE!

I can't say I'm surprised, I enjoy your writing on a daily basis, so just try and accept the fact that we (and lots of other people) think you're fabulous, even if you're not ready to believe it yourself yet.

[Busy Mom]

Congratulations! What wonderful news!

[karyn]

Wahoo! So very happy for you. You ARE a captivating writer, and I'm so glad you are being recognized as the talent that you are.

[chris]

light the candles and send up the balloons, how wonderful are you?! what a thril to a) be asked, b) to be accepted at having made the cut, and c) to be PUBLISHED!! if you wear it as well as you write it, it will be an unabashed success! blessing!

[Kate]

That is so great you deserve it! can't wait to read it.

[Tiffany]

Those of us who keep coming back here because we can't get enough of your day diaries aren't the least bit surprised.
Rock.

[christy]

Rock on witcha bad self, Melissa. Congratulations.

[reenie]

Very captivating, indeed. I've read every single post you've written that I can get my hands on. I'm also not surprised at this; I was wondering when it was coming.

Melissa Summers is being published in a book. And it burns, burns, burns. That ring of fire. (Sorry, but that phrase always makes me think of nasty things.)

[Monica]

Congratulations! I'm glad you got some of the external validation you needed to realize what a great writer you are - because you are, you really, really are.

[Ninotchka]

Not at all surprised here, but THRILLED for you. Way to go, Melissa! You rock.

[Carla]

Look at you- Melissa is now Big Time.
Congratulations!

[Michele]

Congratulations, Melissa! How very exciting, but not so surprising.

[Annejelynn]

congrats grrl!

[Bee]

Congrats! I can't wait to get the book!

[Allison]

Thrilled for you, Melissa, this is wonderful news!!

[jacks]

That's fantastic! Congrats!!

[Jennifer]

Incredibly amazing, yes. But not the least bit surprising, at least not to your faithful. You are an incredible talent, worthy of amazing honors like this one.

Congratulations, Melissa. Believe me or don't, it couldn't happen to a nicer, more deserving person. Scratch that. A nicer, more deserving Writer.

[Molly]

That's GREAT!!! I'm very pleased for you. You deserve it. I love your writing.

[Lil' Sis]

How are you able to hold secrets for that long? I am inherently incapable of doing that.
And I am glad to see that i'm not the only one who cried like a girl when I read that.
AND- am I the only one who thinks of hemorrhoids every time I hear Ring of Fire?
When I was moving back from California, I forced my ex-boyfriend to listen to nothing but that song through 3 states... He wanted to kill me.
-miao.

[Hanna]

XXOO! How excellent!

[Jen]

Great news. Congrats!

[Coralie]

Wow, that's fantastic!

I can't wait to read your writing on paper, in book form. Well, off to preorder now...

Coralie

[Paige]

Holy crap you have a lot of comments.

Let me be one of the last (for the moment) to say congrats, and be sure to buckle up for more: no doubt you'll earn them.

Woo!

[Pants]

I wish getting published in this book came with a medal so I could strut you around town...

[Ness]

Delurking to say....You Rock!! :) You make me proud to live in Michigan!!!!!

[GG]

We ALL told ya so!! Can't tell you how proud I am of you! And I don't even know you! Way to go!!!! The momentum begins...

[Colleen]

Congratulations!
I'm so happy for you.

[Kat]

So, so fabulous. And not at all surprising. I hope this is the shot of success that keeps you striving for the next great thing.

[dolly]

kewl...ya certainly deserve it!

[Amy]

And I thought being published in the lit journal at my college was pretty cool... This is way unbelievalbe.

You should continue to speak in the third person - The royal "we" has lost nothing on you.

Next stop - Oprah. Then you'll be on the Home Shopping Network. The world is your mullosk of choice.

[Sami]

That is so awesome!! Congratulations! :)

[L]

You've just won everything. Sincere, overwhelming congratulations, and I hope that someone is buying you flowers or a clone or something. You deserve it all.

[Nancy]

Congratulations! I'm very happy for you.

[Nancy]

Congratulations! I'm very happy for you.

[Nancy]

Congratulations! I'm very happy for you.

[Deborah]

Congratulations!!! How cool are you? You are a professional writer...you can now be eccentric. I am positively green with envy, But not at all shocked. You are an excellent writer, I have been reading you since back in the blogspot days. Do you have a fabulous release day party planned?

[sbk]

It was only a matter of time. You rock.

(Cool! I know someone famous!)

[joaaanna]

Well would you look at that?!

That is wonderful - I hope you are very proud of yourself.

Congratulations - Melissa - You Deserve IT!

[Nancy Toby]

Congratulations!!!! And you. are. not. fat.

[maia]

Congratulations! Am also going to order one, one for me and one for a blogging friend :)

[supa]

Holy shit! Congrats!

[Angel]

How wonderful!! I am so happy for you :)

[Arianne]

Wow, you are gonna be a stah! I can say I read you "back when". I just realized I've read your blog for over a year and this may be the first time I've ever commented. I guess its because you always leave me thinking instead of talking.

Its probably weird to have a big group of (mostly) strangers tell you this, but I am really proud of you. I feel like you represent us mom bloggers. You're one of the (brace yourself for lame, trite-ness) trailblazers that has made it possible for moms to be allowed to be pissed off, and not all "motherhood is wonderful! all day! all the time!".

Anyway...that's how I see it. Congrats!

[Sawa]

Congratulations!!!!

[Kim]

Melissa - I am so happy for you. Congratulations!!!

[Laurie]

That is awesome. I think you are a great writer and your "day in the life" will be great! I can't wait to read it!

[Carla Rey]

I've thought you needed a book deal since I first stumbled across your blog. You are so funny and compelling and honest, I adore your writing. Nowhere but up for you. Congratulations, it's richly deserved.

[kathy]

congratulations awesome news!