How I won an ARC of "Forever" by Maggie Stiefvader and embarrassed my daughter (and myself) without really trying....much.

I know it's along name for a post, especially since I haven't posted in over a month, but I have a good reason for that. And an even better story...

Have you ever had one of those times where the planets, stars, and everything else alligns in just the right way to give you something really unexpected and cool?

Today was one of those days for me.

This morning I was on the phone with my mom, which in itself was not that unusual, but what we were doing was...looking at Facebook together. She was asking me questions about how to send messages and stuff. I gave her the info she needed then scrolled through my friends' posts. Nothing was out of the ordinary until I read this from our local indie bookstore:

First person to come in to Copperfield's TODAY (6/15) that sings us a verse of 'Don't Stop Believing' gets an advance copy of "Forever", the third and final book of the Shiver series. Starting right NOW.

I noted that a mere 23 minutes had passed since it was posted. I gave out a squeal to my mom, told her I needed to go, hung up on her and yelled out to my kids I was running an errand. As I drove, my hand was frantically searching for my iPod because I KNEW I had that song in my playlist. At the next stoplight, I found it and played it over...and over...and over for the 10 minutes or so it took me to get to Copperfield's (thanks to shortened stoplights, traffic through downtown and having to park in the parking structure).

Popping into the store, I went to the front desk and asked the gal, "Has anyone won Forever yet?" She looked at the childrens' section and told me, "Ask Patty."

I virtually skipped to Patty. But as I was about to say something, I noticed a friend of mine who I've known for some 10 years was standing there looking thorugh the YA section. Patty saw me coming, shifted her body toward me and greeted me with, "You should definitely know this." as I preceeded to sing the first verse, very quickly and nervously, of "Don't Stop Believing".

She smiled and congratulated me. As she went back to grab the book, my friend started laughing telling me, "Lisa, you are too funny!"

I thanked Patty, said good-bye to my friend and literally floated out of the store with my copy of Forever sitting snuggly in my purse. When I got in the car, I called home. My 12 yr old daughter answered. This is the conversation that ensued:

Me: "Guess what I just did?"
Daughter: "What?"
Me: "I got an ARC of Forever!"
Daughter: "How?"
Me: "I went to Copperfield's and sang the first verse of 'Don't Stop Believing' at the store."
Daughter: "No you didn't."
Me: "Yes I did!"
Daughter (panicking): "You did not!"
Me: "Yes, I did! And Mrs. Rocca was there to hear it."
Daughter (horrified): "Oh my God, you did not just do that!"
Me: "Yep, I'll see you when I get home."

So that is my story of how I won an AWESOME book and embarassed my daughter at the same time. And trufully, if I got the chance to do it again, I would...in a heart beat. At least I know what I'll be reading this weeekend...