February 21, 2013

Made It Moment: Colby Marshall

Filed under: Made It Moments — jenny @ 9:09 pm

Chain Of Command

We’ve featured around 275 Moments in this forum, so you will understand why it comes as a surprise for me to say that I have never read anything like this one. Colby Marshall got to do something with her first book that I don’t think anyone else has. To say much more would give the surprise away, so I am going to turn things over to Colby. But I’m also going to add this. May we all get the chance to give such joy as writers. If we do, we will all have truly Made It.

Colby Marshall

I’ve dreamed of that moment when I would sign a copy of my own book for someone since I was a little girl. I wrote a “newspaper” for my mother on loose-leaf notebook paper using a number two pencil with articles about the family dog and my sister and her best friend’s school science project. Years went by, and it seemed like the dream was far away. That is until one day recently, when I found myself sitting inside the Cheesecake Factory in Birmingham, Alabama, waiting to hand-deliver StairwayPress.com’s 10,000th book sold—a book that happened to be written by me.

The lucky fan arrived, unaware I’d brought a special surprise just for her from my publisher. I had with me a check for a thousand dollars. I whipped out my book during dessert, and I wrote, “Here’s to many more cheesecakes together,” absolutely clueless what to write in such a milestone of a novel. Our waiter took my book as his cue to bring out the obnoxiously large fake check to use for pictures, and as the fan said, “Oh my gosh!” over and over again, I handed her the real check for the money. She was beside herself, and I was beside myself, too, when I heard that with this money, she plans to take her grandkids to Disneyworld.

As I rode back to my hotel that evening, I couldn’t help but giggle out loud. What other job in the world could I have where I would get to do something that much fun? I’d just gotten to make someone’s day and send a few kids to Disneyworld all because one reader had supported me and paid $14.95 for my work. I laughed some more, and maybe even shed a happy tear as I realized not only had I done that, but I’d gotten to sign my book, too.

Writer by day, ballroom dancer and choreographer by night, Colby Marshall is a contributing columnist for a local magazine and a proud member of International Thriller Writers as well as Sisters in Crime. She’s active in local theatres as an actress and choreographer. She lives in Georgia with her family where she is hard at work on her new thriller.






17 Comments »

  1. What a delightful made it moment! And what a great idea the publisher had. So very exciting! Thanks for sharing.

    Comment by Marilyn Meredtih — February 21, 2013 @ 9:35 pm

  2. Thanks, Marilyn! I was definitely delighted that my publisher wanted to do something so fantastic for someone. It’s so much fun to know that people still want to just do nice things for other people, even in a time when everything seems to be all about the money. I was very proud to represent Stairway Press that night!

    Comment by Colby Marshall — February 22, 2013 @ 3:57 am

  3. What a beautiful moment! Congrats to you, and may you have many more.

    Comment by mountainmama — February 22, 2013 @ 6:51 am

  4. Aww! How cool. Treasured memories for you and her alike.

    Comment by Savvy — February 22, 2013 @ 10:11 am

  5. What a lovely story! Wish there were more such publishers around!

    Jacqueline Seewald
    THE TRUTH SLEUTH–now available in paperback from Harlequin Worldwide Mystery

    Comment by Jacqueline Seewald — February 22, 2013 @ 10:32 am

  6. Wow! I’ve not quite ever heard of this either. Your teaser, Jenny, had my guessing. No way would I have ever come up with this one! I can just imagine how fun that was for you, Colby. It would have been fun for me, too, if I were the recipient! Must fun post!

    Comment by Lala Corriere — February 22, 2013 @ 10:41 am

  7. Colby, that is one fun story. Bet you didn’t foresee handing out that check for such a momentous occasion when you were a little girl!

    Comment by Barbara Ebel; 'Doctor Barbara' — February 22, 2013 @ 11:02 am

  8. Absolutely wonderful Moment!

    Comment by Judy — February 22, 2013 @ 11:04 am

  9. What an unusual, wonderful made it moment! Thanks for sharing. Made me smile

    Comment by Jan Christensen — February 22, 2013 @ 11:20 am

  10. That’s a delightful story, and one that the winner will remember for many years to come, and so will her grandchildren. Congratulations on your book and your success.

    Comment by Susan Oleksiw — February 22, 2013 @ 11:24 am

  11. What a great story. Just reading about the event made me smile. You must have been as happy as the recipient of the money!

    Comment by Helen Ginger — February 22, 2013 @ 1:25 pm

  12. I enjoy reading about all of the Made It Moments, but yours takes the cake, or cheesecake, as the case may be. That would have been so much fun! I’m glad you had such a wonderful time. That’s a moment you’ll never forget.

    Comment by Marja McGraw — February 22, 2013 @ 1:36 pm

  13. Lovely moment. Terrific and generous publisher.

    Comment by Polly Iyer — February 22, 2013 @ 4:52 pm

  14. What a great story! Thanks for sharing your made-it moment! Jenny, thanks for piquing our interest without telling too much so we will learn when we read it what the uniqueness is!

    I’m also looking forward to the day when all of the Made-It Moments are collected into a book we can sit under a tree & browse through for inspiration.

    Comment by Brenda — February 22, 2013 @ 5:46 pm

  15. Thank you all so very much. I was so honored to be a part of this, and I was and am so proud to represent a publisher who wanted to give something back to their audience. It was a great time. If you’d like to see the event in action, there is a video posted here on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIiFeU2J3BQ&list=UU1rb_MrMGmCSmllA50VA1sw&index=1

    Comment by Colby Marshall — February 22, 2013 @ 9:29 pm

  16. I think that’s one of the coolest made it moments I’ve read. And true, what a fun job we have!

    Comment by Johanna — February 25, 2013 @ 1:49 pm

  17. Colby, what a wonderful story and what a great publisher you have. I wish you much success and if I send my details, do you think I can get a cheque too? Jenny featured me here a few weeks back and so you may (or not) know of my Music business career before writing. When promoting an album for one of my bands, the record company came up with the idea of sending out grey plastic mice to all the radio/video stations and the press….the title had the word Rat in it….so you can imagine the feed-back we got from terrified radio presenters etc, opening their mail. So much nicer to get a large cheque, than a squidgy thing with a long tail!! Much success in the future.

    Comment by Jane Risdon — March 6, 2013 @ 7:49 am

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