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Gezhundeit!


Yes, you've guessed it. I'm talking about what you say when someone sneezes.

Okay, can I get a collective eye roll, please? I can hear you all now: "Only Judi would blog about sneezes."

Actually, I'm not talking sneezes; I'm talking SNEEZERS. With an R. As in "one who."

Why in the world am I talking about Sneezers? And why am I capitalizing it?

At this month's chapter meeting, our speaker mentioned Sneezers - people who will "sneeze" about your stories. You want Sneezers. And you want them Sneezing big, honking Sneezes.

Think about what happens when someone sneezes (with the lowercase s). Polite society requires the use of a handkerchief or tissue so the sneeze is contained. And, yes, please use them.

But when it comes to book Sneezes, I say, "Fie on those handkerchiefs!" You don't want anyone containing their Sneeze.

Case in point: one of our chaptermates had a real estate agent put something about her, a local author, on his sales material because he thought it was cool to know an author. He sends out thousands of pieces of marketing. That was a big Sneeze for her.

So I started thinking about Sneezers in my life. Family is obviously what first comes to mind. One of my kids has no problem Sneezing about Mom, and that child's teachers are well aware that I write. Some have even signed up for my email lists.

My online friends, The Writing Wombats, are big Sneezers. I've mailed bookmarks to them around the country (at their request) and they've dropped them off at local bookstores to be handed out. They've also chatted up the stories and have contributed online reviews.

Neighbors have become Sneezers, friends from high school and college. Coworkers.

I found out about another Sneezer I have. I was very excited--and very humbled to hear this story.

The setup: When I was doing a book signing for the release of Wild Blue Under, a woman came up to my table and said, "Is this the one with the Mer king?" My response? No, it wasn't a resounding, "Yes!" but rather a squee-like, "Oh, you read my book!"

To say we were both grinning like idiots would be a fair statement. Anyhoo, Heather and I ended up chatting; turns out, she wants to be a writer. I told her about our chapter and, yes, she showed up in January. AND she told me that after talking to me (she bought both Wild Blue Under and In Over Her Head at the signing - had to have an autographed copy, she told her husband), that she's told six of her friends about me and they're having a contest: the first one to have Catch of a Lifetime in her hands wins and the others will have to buy her a copy of I Dream of Genies.

Once I finished gaping and wiped the tears from my eyes, I gave her my response for such a wonderfully huge Sneeze:

"God Bless You!"

So... any neat Sneezers in your world? Here's a cute one:




Comments

  1. Ahh, the sneezing panda is soo cute, Judi! Off to work, have a great day!

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  2. Sneezers! What a great concept.

    One of my greatest Sneezers is the owner of a Fred Astaire dance studio. He tells everyone "She writes books! You should read them!" I added a dance element to SEALed With A Ring in order to acknowledge him.

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  3. Judi--

    This is a fabulous concept, and an informative post. I love that you have so many sneezers in your life!

    And that sneexzing panda is adorable!! Even though my cat is 11 years old, whenever he sneezes, he's still very confused by what just happened :)

    Happy Friday!
    Danielle

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  4. That is a great concept. I can see it would also benefit those that are "sneezers." That's a win/win situation.

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  5. Too cute! Love that little panda.

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  6. YAY for Writin' Wombats! We are indeed some of the best Sneezers out there! Then again, it's really easy when the book is so fantabulous and something you're excited and proud to 'sneeze' about! And that baby panda was too adorable!

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  7. No sneezers necessary here, yet. Love the panda, too funny. Just twiddling my thumbs patiently waiting for COAL to hit the shelves.

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  8. Judi,
    I love it when I read the blog and learn something new! Great and cute post. Here's to many, many more Sneezers!
    Amelia

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  9. Thanks for stopping by. I'd offer you a handkerchief (you know, since Catch of a Lifetime is due to hit the shelves in 2 weeks!) but I'd rather you just Sneeze all over everyone you know! :)

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  10. I just love reading your blog posts, Judi. You are always such fun! The panda video is awesome. :}

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  11. Jumping in to say that Catch of a Lifetime HAS ARRIVED AT MY HOUSE!!!

    Woo hoo!! Author copies arrived today. :)

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  12. So cute Judi!

    I have a friend who teaches fitness classes. She suggests they buy my books so she won't have to torture them even more in class.

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  13. Judi--Your post was so much fun I could just tiss ue. LOL!

    Best--Adele

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  14. Aw, Kathryne, thanks!

    Linda - gotta love that Sneezer you have!

    Adele - too cute!!!

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  15. OK, the panda video was adorable with a capital A! OMG! Who would have thought a tiny creature could make such a large noise? But then I work with babies, so I know what small lungs are capable of!

    Sneezers? Hmm.... Interesting concept and I love the twist of a negative. But for me it just won't work. I've been in health care for way too long! Sneezing is too attached to massive quantities of moist droplets being expelled that carry all manner of microscopic germies. H1N1 anyone? *shudder*

    But, as far as who is my best "sneezer" - my hubby, no doubt. He chats up my novels to everyone, and I seriously, literally (sorry Deb!) do mean EVERYONE!

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  16. I'm a rotten self promoter, so it's good that I have have friends and readers both who Sneeze for me. I couldn't do it without them!

    Cute panda!

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  17. Oh Judi~ Sorry I'm late in responding, I was in a Benadryl Comma all day yesterday. I'm better now and all I can say is that panda is too cute!

    My mom is a big sneezer for me. She buys boxes of my books, 25 at a time, and always carries a few around with her. Sometimes she sells them, sometimes she gives them away, but I am always getting emails saying things like "I'm the bartender at your mom's club and she gave me Breakfast in Bed and I loved it!" or " I was sitting next to your mother and the flight to Barcelona and bought your book from her..."

    I have fan sneezers like Mary who visits all my blogs and raves about my books wherever she goes. She sends me notes like "I can't read your books at work, everyone in the lunch room asks me what I'm laughing about." We exchange recipes now!

    God bless them!

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  18. It is extremely interesting for me to read the post. Thanx for it. I like such topics and anything connected to them. I definitely want to read more on that blog soon.

    Kate Kuree

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