Doesn’t that look cute?
It’s one side of my business card. Hugo designed it and there’s a reason why I’m telling you this.
My first book was published at the beginning May 2012. And although it was an event that thrilled, it also terrified the bejesus out of me. It was a leap into the unknown, a bit like giving birth to my first child.
My immediate family obviously know I’m a romance writer but they tend to keep it quiet and that’s fine.
My youngest daughter mentioned it to her pals and they laughed and said, ‘Are the books like that Fifty Shades of Grey woman?’ As I’ve said before, I get that all the time. And she said, ‘No. They’re better.’ Bless her little heart, how’s that for mother love?
My son just gives me the look which says, ‘As if!’ when I ask him if he’s told his pals.
Fair enough, boys are sensitive, I get it.
Anyway, No 1 daughter has kept the fact her mother is a romance author a carefully guarded secret.
Until recently.
Why she’s suddenly found the need to spread the word in our town I’ve no idea - might have something to do with the fact that her mother’s books were all in the top 100 in iTunes over the festive period. I know, it stunned me too.
So the Thursday before Christmas I was doing the usual female thing of having my hair done at Toni & Guy (shameless plug - Sumin is THE best) and Sumin told me about the fabulous deal for Christmas toilet paper in Marks & Spencer (upmarket supermarket) three packs for the price of two.
Well, I had to have it! I mean, who could resist?
But here’s the thing, it was raining (no surprises there, this is the UK and the way things are going the country is going to float into the Atlantic) and since I’m always prepared, I wore a waxed peak cap to protect the ‘doo (a sleek blonde bob, which comes just above my shoulders for anyone who’s remotely interested).
So, grabbing a basket I surfed through the food section of Marks & Spencer, picked up a few luxury items, including the toilet paper and headed for the check-out. I absolutely refuse to use the self-service check-outs because I prefer dealing with a human. Although after the trauma of what happened next I might change my mind.
Now working at the check-out was a girl I hadn’t seen in ages. She’s lovely and always chats to me, and my daughters when they go in for the odd thing.
As she finished serving the lady in front of me, she looked up and her eyes went really big.
‘Well, helloooooooo you!’ she cried in a very high voice.
I grinned.
What a sweetie.
‘Hello to you too,’ I said. ‘Merry Christmas.’
She stood, leaned over the till and grabbed my hand and squeezed tight. ‘It’s sooooo amazing to see you!! You look fabulous.’
I do? Gosh, I thought, I must come in here more often.
‘Your daughter’s told me all about you!’
‘Did she? Which one?’
‘I can never tell them apart, they’re so gorgeous!’
I grinned again flushed with maternal pride.
By this time there were about six ladies behind me. I glanced at them and gave a nervous laugh.
After all it’s Christmas and like most women they all looked in a hurry and a bit wild-eyed.
‘Thank you,’ I said and tried to take my hand from hers.
She clung on like a limpet and there was a sort of crazy gleam in her eye.
She smiled at the ladies in the queue. ‘This!’ she announced and held up my hand, ‘Is a best-selling author.’
I swear my heart stopped.
A hot flash burned up my neck into my cheeks.
Omigod!
Every woman within twenty yards all turned to stare. I’m telling you I PRAYED for the floor to open up and take me.
‘No, no, I’m not a best seller,’ I whimpered.
‘What do you write?’ piped up a very smart lady in her sixties.
‘Romance,’ I said in a voice that didn’t sound anything like me.
‘Ahh,’ said another woman. ‘Like Fifty Shades of Grey?’
‘Noooo,’ cried the girl serving me. ‘She’s much better.’
Omigod!
‘I do like a good sex scene,’ the lady in her sixties informed the entire store without a blush.
‘So do I,’ said another check-out girl behind mine. She didn’t turn round, she just kept serving a man who looked as if he’d rather be anywhere else except in Marks & Spencer listening to a group of over-sexed women.
During all this my toilet paper was winging its way through the scanner.
Still beaming at me, my check-out girl looked at the queue who were all watching me.
I nodded, gave them big eyes and smiled.
‘We have quite a lot of authors in this town,’ the woman in her sixties cocked her head to watch me hand over my bank card. I keyed in my pin. Her mouth kept flapping, ‘You should do a talk at the library.’
No chance.
‘Good idea. I’d come to that,’ another woman said.
By this time I was trying really hard not to laugh like a lunatic and was putting the card in my purse.
‘Do you have a business card?’ The woman in her sixties asked.
‘I do,’ I said. And handed her one.
‘Please will you autograph one for me,’ my check-out girl begged.
Omigod!
By this time I was pledging never, ever to set foot in the store for as long as I live.
‘Sure.’ I signed it, grabbed my bags.
‘Oh look, she’s wearing a hat! She’s travelling incognito!’ the check-out girl from hell cried.
‘No, no. I’ve had my hair done and it’s raining. Seriously. Can I just say that you’re totally insane?’ I told her.
She just laughed, stood up and grabbed me in a big hug.
‘I’m going to spread the word, tell all my family and my friends.’
I bit down really hard on my bottom lip. ‘You’re very kind,’ I said.
As I hightailed it through the store towards the exit, I couldn’t help it. I cried laughing.
And do you know that three people stopped me to ask if I was alright?
Who says kindness is dead?
I haven’t been back. Not yet. But when I do its dark glasses and a ski cap with a muffler for me, or maybe I’ll use the self-service check-out. Might be safer.
Have you ever been mortified by someone in your life?
Come and share it with us, knowing you lot there’ll be lots of good ones!
Big Hug,
Christine x
CC MACKENZIE - USA Today Bestselling Author 
Awesome, C.C.! I love it! It’s good you’re getting practice autographing - I think it will come in handy!
I met my daughters for a coffee after it and they were crying with laughter too. Daughter number one owned up to having the big mouth. Ah well, it could be worse. Can you imagine if I had written Fifty Shades? 😉
CC this was hysterical 🙂
Woot! Talking about best selling authors, Charles Sheehan-Miles is in the house! Fanning my face here!
Why, thank you for stopping by, Charles. Please drop in again and I can brag shamelessly 🙂
Actually, I felt hysterical at the time. 🙂
made me laugh so much, you are a really funny lady christine lol xx
Hello, Natalie! Fancy seeing you here, lol! Thank you, you’re a doll. 😉
Yup. What did I say? Race you to the first movie.
Hello, Dale. You and Charles should get together since you’re both awesome writers. Just remember I bag the front row when Anvil’s a movie and I want lots of popcorn. And bring Kleenex for the part that will make me cry. 🙂
What a great story Christine. This put a big ol grin on my grill. I’m so proud of you! I have to run. Say hi to Tom Cruise and Madonna for me!
Greg! Missed you!
Missed you back! I’m on the CC Mack writing program at the moment. Getting several titles ready for “print” before releasing them so I can have be a bit more strategy with marketing and blah blah Yawn.
Whew, I must have dozed off there 😉
Now that’s what I like to hear, a man who does what he’s told 😉 Good for you! It’s a hard slog, but worth it because you can still ‘tweak’ things. But… you’re still missed 😦
Had to share this now. I absolutely DIED laughing and I don’t know what to say! Do all these things happen to you? :D. Such fun, though.
YES! All these things do happen to me. It felt like an out of body experience at the time and I’d just put up Rosie, so I was exhausted. 🙂
Christine, I literally laughed out loud when I read “She didn’t turn round, she just kept serving a man who looked as if he’d rather be anywhere else except in Marks & Spencer listening to a group of over-sexed women.” My guess is he was frantically listening for your name so he could look up your books!
Well done, you! On the writing part, not the “OMG I’m famous and embarrassed” part. You need a little work on that. 🙂 Next time, enjoy it-you deserve it. Hugs to you, you incognito strumpet you!
I tell you, Stacey, Fifty Shades has a lot to answer for. These women were shameless. I’m not famous and to be honest I’m not at all certain I’d want to be. Even the girls are avoiding the store at the moment, just in case! 🙂
I’m getting a great visual of you in your incognito costume reading your book to a group of women at the library . . . 🙂
Nooooo, don’t put that picture in my head, Coleen! 😉
That is hilarious! Go, you, and give that daughter of yours a box of chocolates!
My daughter’s eyes went so big I thought they were going to roll out of her head. Bless her.
I think you should own it girl! Take what ever accolades are given! Hilarious!
Just wait until it happens to you! In the very near future, no pressure!
I can only dream CC! 🙂
Dreams are what life is made of. You’ll do it!
I sure hope so. I just have to keep working at finishing the dang thing!
We all get to the place where it’s like chipping away at the coal-face with a toothpick. Keep going and make a note of your word count, even in revisions and edits. People sometimes forget to do that and it does help to make you feel that you’re ‘moving forward’. Good Luck! 🙂
Great advice! Thanks CC! I have made a deadline of the end of the month to finish. Fingers crossed! 🙂
Hilarious! Will make me smile next time I’m at the tills in Tesco lol
Hello, Fiona!
Thank you for commenting! Just goes to show how word travels in a small community 🙂
Written like the C.C. I know! Enjoy it, girl! It’s nice to be famous! Living abroad I’m more or less incognito all the time - which suits me fine, thank you very much - but there is a tavern owner in our village who everytime I come in to have a nice quiet tsipouro introduces me to his customers as: ‘Oh, look!!! Here’s our own Dutch Agatha Christie’ - because in one of my books located here on the peninsula I made the mayor he despises a murderer. And then they all look at me like I’m somebody from outer space 🙂 Which I probably am in their eyes for being this crazy woman who sit typing like a lunatic on her sunny terrace under the grapevine - while my husband is hanging up the laundry behind me LOL. Go on writing and being famous, C.C.! I love your blog-stories!
Woot! Wilma’s in the house. Guys, I’ve known Wilma for a number of years and she was one of the people who encouraged me. It’s all her fault! 🙂 The Dutch Agatha Christie, not bad, missus.
Thank you so much for commenting!
I’m laughing out loud right now. I think we all want our books to sell well, but none of us want to be asked about it in public!
Hi Marcy,
Certainly not at the supermarket with crazy women all talking about ‘that book’ 🙂
That’s awesome, CC! I was laughing out loud like everyone else. And then when Coleen said she was picturing you at the library in your costume… Hahaha! Come one, someday you are going to fold and end up over there. You are climbing the ladder, girl! Congratulations.
Hi Debra, I see Thor’s been a busy boy! Actually, the library thing might be a goer in that they’re talking about Ebooks and what readers want. We’re a little behind the curve here in the UK. So, watch this space.
I’ll be watching.
A bit embarrassing to be showered with that kind of attention at the grocery store, but really awesome. 🙂
Hi Kourtney, it was more than embarrassing and out of the left field so I certainly wasn’t expecting anything like it. The world is a crazy place. 🙂
Awesome. I always thought there had to be life at M&S! Sounds like to have a ready made publicity department 🙂
As for mortifying moments, I try to forget them - which is something I’m actually good at 😉
Cheers!
Nigel, I wanted to die. The poor man’s eyes were like saucers as he listened to perfectly respectable older ladies talk about ‘good sex scenes.’ Aww, come on, share the mortifying moments, you’re among friends. 🙂
You’re famous, Christine, and now you’re experienced, too. You should come visit me. I’ll take you to my local Wal-Mart and introduce you. 🙂
All kidding aside, I love how your daughter supports you. And next time you get stopped because you’re famous, well you worked darn hard for that appreciation, so enjoy it!
Hi Sheila, more like infamous. I’ll come and visit you anytime! 🙂
I see this as just the beginning Christine. You better get used to it. Look at how your book sales have skyrocked. Soon, there will be no place that you can go without being recognized. As a best-selling author, your face will be seen on your books throughout the world. You’ll be sitting in a nice cozy restaurant dining with Hugo when one person after another will walk up and ask for your autograph. There’s just no end to it. And we’ll feel privileged to say, “We knew her when.” Ha, ha, ha! I couldn’t help myself girlfriend. You crack me up. So your girls are getting you back, eh? That’s great Christine. {{Hug!}} 🙂
You kill me. It won’t happen because I’ll just put a photo of you on the back of my books. That’ll teach you! Don’t forget what goes up….. etc. Hugs, Karen, you crazy woman!
Hey, if you’re going to use my picture girlfriend, then I want some of the proceeds. This could prove quite profitable. Thank you Christine! What a great idea! LOL! 🙂
Hehehehe! 🙂
What an experience, girl! Wish I could’ve been a fly on the wall. Lol And I agree that you better get used to this because, yes, you’re that good.
Jo, you’re the best!
This is the most fabulous story I’ve EVER heard!!! CC, you are awesome! I can just see everything as it went down. Poor dear. I completely understand and would be just as nervous as you were. But here’s the good news. You ARE a bestselling author!!! Kudos, dear friend!!! I’m so proud of you!!!
*Head shake* you guys are killing me! Not quite a best seller, but one day! Hopefully! 🙂