Small world

I love books, so I knew that I walking into an LDS bookstore with a credit card could be ... well... dangerous. I decided before starting my book tour in Utah that I would be really good about not buying any books, at least not until I had a chance to decide which ones I really wanted.

After hanging out with Jeri Gilchrist (pictured with me and David Wooley), I knew that I had to get her book. Jeri is so much fun and I have heard wonderful things about her new book, Shadow of the Crown. Another book I was determined to come home with was Servant to a King by Sariah Wilson. I was lucky enough to hang out with Sariah on the first day of Booksellers and it was so great to get to know her. After visiting with so many incredibly talented authors, I wasn't sure which other books I might want to bring home for me and my family.

During the excitement of Booksellers, I had forgotten that for the better part of the summer, my fifteen year old daughter had been harassing me about buying her some books. Not just any books. She wants the sequels for a particular book she had been given when the summer began.

Since we don't have an LDS bookstore near us, I told her that I would buy her the books she wanted when I went to Palmyra, NY for my book signing there during the Hill Cumorah Pageant. I called her up to find out the titles only to find that Latter-day Harvest was sold out. I then promised her that I would buy the books when I went out to Utah for Booksellers. After all, I knew I would be visiting more than a dozen LDS bookstores so surely I could find her the books she wanted.

I visited seven bookstores on my first day in town, and completely forgot about my daughter's request. I then spent the next two days at Booksellers having a blast...and still forgetting about the books my daughter wanted. When I talked to her on Thursday night, she reminded me of her request. I told her to text me the name of the books, or at least the name of the author so I could get them for her. She then proceeded to tell me the author was David G. Woolley. My response, "Oh, you mean the same David Woolley I was hanging out with today?" Her response: "WHAT?!?!" Okay, so I have a little trouble with my memory.

I had already thought how ironic it was that when talking to David, I discovered that he loves soccer. I mentioned that my husband used to play semi-pro ball in Utah and found that David knew many of his former teammates.

Later that evening I went to visit some friends that I've known since college. While there, I relayed the story of how annoyed my daughter was that I had been hanging out with one of her favorite authors without realizing it. My husband's childhood friend, Greg, looked at me confused. He then responded, "That's right. David Woolley does write books." Come to find out that they know David quite well. David has coached two of their sons in soccer. In fact, Greg has told David about his old roommate (my husband) who played soccer at BYU and then played semi-pro. Yes, David, everyone is telling you about the same person. Talk about a small world!

The good news is, I did manage to find the sequels to David's first book in his Promised Land series and bring them home to my daughter. Needless to say, I haven't seen her much since I got home!