poll | Michelle Proulx

Today’s post was prompted by my recent Goodreads Giveway, which netted me … (drum roll) … 945 participants! Woo!

Moving on. So two people won, and now I need to send them their copies of Imminent Danger, complete with the dreaded BOOK INSCRIPTION!!!

Why dreaded, you ask? Is your book rastafarian? Does every copy come with an adorable origami set of miniature dreadlocks?

No, of course not. Don’t be silly. I’ve been dreading the BOOK INSCRIPTION!!! for some time now, because I have absolutely no idea what to write as an inscription. First of all, there’s the debate between “To” versus “For”. Examples:

To Juarhala, prettiest gal this side o’ tha Pecos

versus

For Juarhala, my dearest and most loyal sycophant

“For” strikes me as more personal, whereas “To” is more when you’re writing a letter to someone. Hmmmm. Thoughts?

And then, of course, there’s the dodgy matter of what to actually write in the inscription itself. Just “For/To + Name” is kind of boring. You need to personalize that shizzle to really make it … erm … fizzle. So, what to write?

For my close friends, nothing short of an epic, full-page letter will suffice. I’ve known them for a long time, they helped with the book, and they expect The Iliad in return. Fair enough. God knows what I’ll actually write in said epic letter — I think it will have to be an on-the-spot inspiration type of deal — but that doesn’t stop me from worrying that, when I’m on the spot, I’ll have absolutely no idea what to write, or write something so stupid they’ll quietly hide my book in a corner and never mention it again.

But now that I’ve got a book signing at Chapters on May 25th (huzzah!), I need to figure out what to write for people I’ve met only casually, or for the first time. Do I try to personalize the message to each person? Do I ask them what they want me to write? Or do I come up with a witty, generic phrase? Here are some possible generic phrases of questionable wittiness:

For XXX. Reach for the stars! Michelle

To XXX. Follow your dreams! Michelle

For XXX. Pew pew pew! Michelle

To XXX. SHWOOP! Michelle

To XXX. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Michelle

For XXX. Enjoy the book, and thank you so much for your support! Michelle

To XXX. Best wishes, Michelle

For XXX. Dangerously yours, Michelle.

Bah. As you can see, I clearly have no idea what I’m doing. Any and all suggestions, as always, are welcome!!!

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