Black Heels and a Book Contest

So, a long time ago (February), in a far away land (Memphis), I attended a very large, very cool book signing at the Davis-Kidd Bookstore.

The business has since been auctioned off, but I'm VERY glad I got to be here, the night before we left to return for the Northwest.

Who was the author? None other than The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond!

Though in reality, it took some work to get to the point where you could actually see her.  You know who was easier to find?

A slightly iconic figure of the blogosphere...

...whom we usually see frowning at cows or covered in dirt.  Or cow poop.  Or...let's just be honest, from the back.  Not only was he clean and posing for picture, but he signed books!

It was very impressive.  Danny was in awe, since my book signings cause him conflicting desires; to be wildly proud of his wife vs. staying as far out of the fray as humanly possible.

After a not-short wait in line (which turned out to be longer because the line system was a bit confusing, and I was VERY glad I'd worn flats rather than heels, because I wouldn't have wanted to be in tears by the time I got to the front of the line), I made it to the lovely P-Dub...

...who graciously signed the stack of books I'd brought her.  Bless her.  And bless Danny for shooting the picture for me. Did I mention he was there with me through the craziness the whole time? Aside from when he had to make an emergency Best Buy (or was it Office Max?) run when I realized I'd forgotten the memory card for my camera (again.  I'm going to chalk it up to the going-crazy-packing-to-drive-across-the-country-brain).

He's quite grand, my husband.

The other funny part of that whole experience is that the girl in line in front of us was not only on her cell phone, but she stayed on her cell phone when she took her books to Ree and in fact passed the phone to her, asking her to speak to the person on the other end of the line.

For the record, a.) PW handled it very graciously, b.) I would not personally encourage this behavior, and c.) if a reader did that to me at a book signing, I can't even imagine what awkward thing I would say.  But I thought it hysterically funny.  What *did* people do before cell phones?

Anyway, I have a copy of this book...

(Which Tesla, an avid reader, recommends very much. And this picture was taken with my phone, so don't judge.)

...signed by both Ree and Marlboro Man, whose real name (for those interested) is Ladd Drummond.  This book has been lovingly transported across the country, protected from the elements, and has been hanging out in my closet (until just recently, when I made the dog pose with it) until I could get my electronic act together (more on that later).

Black Heels to Tractor Wheels is the story of how Ree and Ladd met, fell in love, and married.  If you've read the blog account (as I had), rest assured that there are parts not in the blog, and also tells the story about  their crazy Australian honeymoon and the birth of their first girl-child.  Also, if you're familiar with her recipes, gives a bit of history around some of her favorite foods and how they came to be.

If you'd like to win the copy, here's what to do:

1.) Comment below and answer the following question: What food means love to you?

2.) Hit the "Like" button on my Hillary Manton Lodge Fiction page on Facebook...

or...

3.) Follow me on Twitter

or

4.) Hit the "Follow" button to the right of this blog.

If you're already following, liking, Twittering, what-have-you, then all you have to do is comment, the other part is automatic.  The winner will be chosen at random.  Good luck!