Lean In

Lean In

Susie just couldn’t believe her luck. Her head was spinning. She walked a bit slower now, moving closer to the coffee shop, reflecting on the path that led her to this point. She knew her written words held great content but she wasn’t sure if there would be any public interest in the whole package. Its a great book filled with scrumptious details with tasteful variety. The participants ranged in age, status and came from various walks of life. Not surprisingly, some were hesitant to allow her to share their stories and information. Honestly though, they really had no true choice. These were Susie’s stories as much as theirs. She was there at the beginning. Developing the relationships, finding the right elements, tested the the boundaries and she was definitely responsible for the experiences that ensued from this knowledge. Susie brought a lot of these scripts to life.

She was always a willing participant, sometimes adding her own twist which always enhanced the end result. She was informed that many clients were intrigued by its content especially during this COVID lockdown.

“We all need an outlet”, said the woman from the Bookstotell publishing company.

She continued to tell Susie. “This has became a very popular topic that everyone, especially the “suburban housewife”, could grasp onto. Kind of like the frantic obsession with the Shades of Grey books!”

They both laughed.

But let’s back up, when did all this start for Susie?

It was her 16th birthday when the little black book was started. Was she too young? What age should you be to become interested in this type of activity? Was it her mother’s fault for encouraging Susie’s endurance for this abiding passion? Why weren’t her sisters more keen and absorbed? Were her brothers to blame because they also knew their way around this subject? Susie had been influenced by many, family members, friends, acquaintances, co-workers, friends of friends, on line associates, and sometimes complete strangers. Each story was added to her little black book.

There were many questions to ask her new friend from Bookstotell. Would some of the people involved need to have their identities kept secret for reasons of family prosperity and tradition? Are any laws being broken by publishing this book, because Susie didn’t come up with all of the content herself? Will she make enemies? Will her family be okay with this type of sharing? So many questions, yet she was on her way to the coffee shop with a big grin on her face and the little black book in hand.

She sipped on her morning smoothie, moving through the crowds hustling to work. She tried to suppress the negative thoughts by pushing them aside and she pulled in the positive ones. Susie wants to share this collaborative information and enhance her relative mundane existence. She has had an eclectic professional life so far with many irons in the fire. Somehow never really satisfied but forever committed to the black book. Even though she is still relatively young...

“Now is the time”, she says out loud, she to no one, although many turn to look.

“No regrets”.

Susie wants to keep moving forward and be forever leaning into life. Her little black book seems lighter now and she quickly picks up the pace as she walks on the sidewalk.

Although the book was started many years ago, Susie remembers how she became obsessed with continuously adding to and updating her black book. She shared little of its content to anyone but felt it was time to see if there was any interest in this saturated subject. There is so much of this sort of thing out there in the social media world, why would this peak anymore attentiveness?

Susie had many positive mantras she relied on and the most important one she has been repeating to herself is..you never know unless you try!

With a swift hand, Susie sent off a small portion of the contents of the book to several publishing companies. She wondered how much it would cost her? Maybe the idea of actually having a little black book for 22 years, might be a great selling feature!

She was right.

She made it to the coffee shop before the Bookstotell spokesperson, Brittany is her name.. Brittany MacKay. When she finally arrived 15 minutes late, which is not a good sign, the conversation was brief but the interest was overwhelming.

“I don’t know if you realize this Susie but your material and concept is exactly what will sell. The back stories and the diversity of each piece is what will capture your audience. It’s a book that will be on every shelf and it is my pleasure to give you an advance check for $20,000.” Brittany leaned forward with a smile.

“I don’t understand. I thought I’d have to pay you,” said Susie as she glared at the check.

“It’s like winning a lottery,” Susie whispered to herself.

“Susie, you have hit a niche, and the good thing is, this niche is huge,” explained Brittany, “Especially with Covid because people have more time to look at books and as I mentioned, the content is exactly what people are looking for.”

So there you have it. The book that Susie’s mom gave her 22 years ago was passed to Brittany. She set it down on the table and proceeded to open it right there in the sparse cafe.

She looked up at Susie, “ I wish I knew what you knew at 16 Susie.”

She stroked the black cover and slowly opened it to the first page. There it was, a note from her mom;

Happy Birthday Susie

Hope you will enjoy this book.

Love, Mom

The second page in bold black letters: FAMILY RECIPES-WELL TESTED.

As she gingerly turned the next page she saw the first recipe that was dubbed Grandmother Morris’ Lemon Sponge Pudding.

Susie’s mom had taken it upon herself to fill the first 20 pages and she anticipated Susie would fill in the rest. And she did.

The Little Black Book is a book of recipes. A collection of Susie’s favourite recipes and the stories that go with them. The ones she developed by herself, requested from friends, cooked up with her brothers, and most importantly the ones that tasted good to her. Each compound of ingredients had a story attached to it, which in Susie’s mind, enhances the whole experience of food! Beautiful dishes made with love. You can’t put a dollar amount on that but you can share the joy!

I hope your mind didn’t wander too far in the gutter. Always remember that each of us have our stories of passion and all are worthy of sharing no matter what topic.