"Your book is in Barnes & Noble in Minnesota!" my aunt shouted.
It was December 22, and I had just landed in Charlotte after a cross crounty trip that included an overnight in L.A.

"What? It's not supposed to be in stores until January second," I said. "We can't even get in here yet. And it's a Southern book!"

"Well, it's there. She just bought two copies."

My aunt's mother wasn't the only one who spotted the book. When I spoke with my editor a week or so later, she informed me that The Southern Girl's Guide had already been delivered to various bokstores and was selling - well before the official "on sale" date of January 2.

"The most sales have been in Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and...get this," she said. "New York!"

Now I have a lot of friends in Atlanta.  I lived there for 10 years.  And I have a lot of  family in Charlotte, so I guess that's understandable. But Nashville? I don't know a soul there. Of course, I did give Tim McGraw an early-bound copy for his wife, Faith Hill, a few months back, when I interviewed him for the movie "Flicka." She's mentioned in the book, as an example of the quintessential Southern Girl. (Don't you just love her?!) But somehow, I don't think Faith is buying up all those copies in Nashville.

And what about New York City??? Has the South finally risen again? Breaking news!

I'm not complaining, of course. I just wish that I could have seen my book in a store before, oh, I don't know. All my family and friends and their extended network, maybe?

My brother Adam drove up to Concord Mills (just north of Charlotte) a few days after Christmas. He stopped in the Barnes & Noble and guess what? There it was, sitting on a shelf in the relationship section, right under Dr. Phil's new book.

(See photo above. Isn't Adam the cutest thing? Still single gals, but better act fast. He's a keeper!)

My brother Stephen called soon after to report that Books A Million has The Southern Girl's Guide in Gastonia, NC.

Publishing. It's a strange business.

With Southern love, Annabelle

www.SouthernGirlsGuide.com