The song goes "dedicated to the one I love" and often book dedications are exactly that. Some of the best post-deadline tasks are the fun opportunities to write a 'Dear Reader' letter, giving us a chance to connect directly with our readers, and the acknowledgement and/or dedication pages. Over the years, I've dedicated my books to my parents (always stalwart supporters of anything their only daughter attempted), very close friends and, of course, my children and husband.
In fact my very first novel, an Intrigue, was dedicated to my husband, though he wasn't sure at the time. I thought I'd be clever (chalk it up to my first novel high) so I wrote For my own romantic hero on the dedication page. I was with friends and family when my personal copies arrived and there was much ado, all of us thumbing through the crisp new pages. I waited patiently for my husband to notice the dedication and was about to point it out to him when a relative discovered it first. She read it aloud and then quipped, "I assume you're referring to your husband, are you?" There was much laughter but when I turned toward my husband he had a slightly uncertain expression on his face. Of course bigger laughs erupted as everyone else caught the same look.
That experience taught me not to be too cryptic when penning a dedication. When I was ready to submit a dedication/acknowledgement page for my recent release, For Love of a Dog, I gave the task a great deal of consideration. My parents have passed away and daughters and husband (and yes, he had his 2nd and 3rd chances with much more clarity though less originality, I think) have had many tributes on the front pages of Harlequins.
But there's been a very special relative in my life whose quiet, accepting manner and wonderful sense of humor have been a balm for me through some troubled times years and years ago. This Canadian Thanksgiving, she's turning 93! She still lives on her own and cooks for herself, though she now has someone come in to do her laundry every two weeks. Only because the laundry machines are in the basement and her family encourages her to avoid stairs. The last time I visited her she made homemade chicken noodle soup - from scratch, making her own chicken stock in the process. Writing a dedication to her wasn't hard - the challenging part was not to make it too long.
Here's what I came up with:
For Evelyn Ruth Carter, who soared in a hot-air balloon at age eighty and rode on the back of a motorcycle at eighty-five; her spirit, insight and tenderness inspire all who love her.
Those two experiences were on her bucket list and here's a photo of her waiting to climb aboard on her 80th birthday.
When I asked her how she celebrated her 90th, she told me she had open heart surgery, to have a pacemaker put in. I think her 93rd in a couple of weeks will be a bit more sedate. But I know she'll make sure the table is set the way she likes it and will insist on cake. Happy Birthday, Ev!
How do you decide on a dedicatee, and have you written any unusual dedications?
Cheers! Janice Carter
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In fact my very first novel, an Intrigue, was dedicated to my husband, though he wasn't sure at the time. I thought I'd be clever (chalk it up to my first novel high) so I wrote For my own romantic hero on the dedication page. I was with friends and family when my personal copies arrived and there was much ado, all of us thumbing through the crisp new pages. I waited patiently for my husband to notice the dedication and was about to point it out to him when a relative discovered it first. She read it aloud and then quipped, "I assume you're referring to your husband, are you?" There was much laughter but when I turned toward my husband he had a slightly uncertain expression on his face. Of course bigger laughs erupted as everyone else caught the same look.
That experience taught me not to be too cryptic when penning a dedication. When I was ready to submit a dedication/acknowledgement page for my recent release, For Love of a Dog, I gave the task a great deal of consideration. My parents have passed away and daughters and husband (and yes, he had his 2nd and 3rd chances with much more clarity though less originality, I think) have had many tributes on the front pages of Harlequins.
But there's been a very special relative in my life whose quiet, accepting manner and wonderful sense of humor have been a balm for me through some troubled times years and years ago. This Canadian Thanksgiving, she's turning 93! She still lives on her own and cooks for herself, though she now has someone come in to do her laundry every two weeks. Only because the laundry machines are in the basement and her family encourages her to avoid stairs. The last time I visited her she made homemade chicken noodle soup - from scratch, making her own chicken stock in the process. Writing a dedication to her wasn't hard - the challenging part was not to make it too long.
Here's what I came up with:
For Evelyn Ruth Carter, who soared in a hot-air balloon at age eighty and rode on the back of a motorcycle at eighty-five; her spirit, insight and tenderness inspire all who love her.
Those two experiences were on her bucket list and here's a photo of her waiting to climb aboard on her 80th birthday.
How do you decide on a dedicatee, and have you written any unusual dedications?
Cheers! Janice Carter
Oh, I love this. She sounds like an amazing person.
ReplyDeleteShe is indeed, Beth, and a good sport, too!
DeleteShe certainly does. Great dedication and cute story about your husband.
ReplyDeleteYes to the husband story...now I laugh but back then I thought, 'does he really think it might not be him?' :)
DeleteWhat an amazing woman! Thanks for introducing her to us, Janice.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jill. She was thrilled to,read the post too, when I emailed her the link. She got an iPad this year!
DeleteEv sounds amazing. My own dedications get a little wordy, but they're fun to come up with. I think I dedicated one book to all seven of my grandkids just in case I never got to do it again. :-)
ReplyDeleteAh Liz, that's so sweet dedicating to all the grandkids. Fingers crossed Imcan do that some day,
Delete!
Well, Evelyn sets the bar pretty high for the rest of us, doesn't she? What an inspiration she is. I have to do the hot air balloon thing. I believe I'll avoid the motorcycle, however. She truly has more daredevil in her than I do. Great tribute, Janice.
ReplyDeleteThank Catherine and yes, I'm with you, also preferring the hot air balloon to a motorcycle ride. She did get her grandson to do the driving, but still....all those other drivers on the roads!!
DeleteHow are we supposed to top that?! What an awesome woman! I don't have much experience at dedications and am crossing my fingers I get to polish that up someday, lol. Happy birthday Ev!
ReplyDeleteYou'll be making lots of dedications, LeAnne, if your first book is anything to go by! I'll have to get Ev to dad these comments. She'll be thrilled.
DeleteJanice, I think dedications are difficult. I always want something in the book to be significant to whomever gets the dedication---well that's since I ran through everyone in my family and all of my editors numerous times. I read your dedication and was so impressed with your relative and what you said. Now it's great to see her photo.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Roz and some day I'm hoping to enjoy much more dedication writing! And I know people are fhrilled to be mentioned in a novel that goes around the world.
DeleteJanice, I can see Ev (I love that hypocorism--points to a kind of practical grace about her) appearing in one form or another in a lot of Heartwarming novels! BTW, hypocorism is my word for the day. A case of 'What is the word for--?'
ReplyDeleteOk MK., so now I'm going to look up that word as soon as I finish this reply!! And yes, I think she's the kind of inspirational person that makes for a good secondary character!
DeleteA lovely dedication.
ReplyDeleteThanks Laurie! As I said, it was easy to write but hard to keep short!
DeleteShe sounds like an amazing person.
ReplyDeleteShe is Patricia!
ReplyDeleteI always dedicate my books to my husband, and recently, have started adding my son into the dedications, too, when it's appropriate. He's old enough to enjoy being included in that now. :) I love doing dedications, too!
ReplyDelete