Читать книгу Made-To-Order Wife - Judith McWilliams - Страница 7

Dear Reader,

The idea for Jessie’s occupation as a manners expert came to me one snowy late December day when my son suddenly asked, “Are there manners police?”

I glanced over to where he was sitting at the kitchen table, spared a quick look at the so far totally blank sheet of stationery in front of him and said, “Why do you ask?”

“Because I can’t figure out why grown-ups would torture little kids by making them write stupid thank-you letters unless it was a law or something.”

I briefly considered giving him the standard-issue mom lecture on how “if people care enough about you to run all over town tracking down an obscure toy that you said you wanted, the least you can do is write them a thank-you note,” before discarding the idea. Instead, I took the easy way out and said, “Yes, there are manners police, only we call them experts, and yes, they have decreed that you can’t play with your gift until you’ve written a thank-you note to the giver.”

“But what does a manners expert look like, Mom?”

“Look like?” I repeated as into my mind suddenly popped the image of a laughing redheaded woman. To my surprise she looked exactly like the heroine of a book.

I shoved the turkey to the back of the counter, grabbed a pencil and paper and hastily started to jot her description down. And thus was born Jessie Martinelli, manners expert, whose story is told in Made-To-Order Wife.

I hope you enjoy reading her adventure as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Judith McWilliams