I have in my hands a copy of Sarah Dessen’s latest book “Lock and Key,” which, so far, is *not* disappointing. I love, love, LOVE Sarah Dessen’s books, which is why I needed to post *how* I managed to get my hands on a copy.

We just moved last month, so I’m *familiar* with the area, but then again, I don’t really know my way around yet, especially downtown Raleigh, which is only about 20 minutes or so away.

So on Saturday the guy I’m sorta married to but not allowed to talk about online decided we should go out and pick up a few things, with the intent of buying Dessen’s latest. We went to a few retail stores without luck, and decided we definitely needed to get to a book store, so into Raleigh we go.

I have to confess that I’m pretty uptight about driving. I haven’t driven to Raleigh to date because I’m just *not* used to the traffic—I’ll get to it one day, but either way, if I have a destination in mind, I *have* to know exactly where it’s at, and what streets I need to take . . . I’m just a big planner (read: control freak). DH, thankfully is *not* like that at all. In fact, he’ll take a random turn “just to see where it goes” which I love, because you never know where you’re going to end up and what you’re going to see. It’s safe to say that we get lost whenever we go out, but it’s a fun lost—kind of a “lost on purpose” thing.

So we were looking for a bookstore, and “lost” on Saturday, when DH randomly sees a sign that says “shopping center” and whips into the turn lane and heads into it. The shopping center wasn’t exactly what we expected—a little on the dated, bohemian side—but guess what it held?

Quail Ridge Books and Music—which is Raleigh’s only independent bookstore. A store I’d heard about, and knew about, but had never seen (I didn’t even know where to find it). So we pulled in a space and I ran inside and first thing: copies of Lock and Key. I picked one up and was ready to go in two seconds, but then I saw the YA section in the back, so I decided to go take a look. And There . . . in their own little stand . . . copies of Lock and Key . . . THAT WERE SIGNED!

ACK! I saw that little gold “signed copy” sticker and practically ripped the book off the shelf.

So not only were we lost, and taking random turns to find a bookstore, but we *find* one, and it just so happens to be the best bookstore in Raleigh AND it has signed copies of my favorite author’s newest book. J J J

The stars were in alignment.

Sarah Dessen will be signing there this weekend, but of course I’ll be out of town. Erg. Still, I’m pretty satisfied just knowing she picked up my copy herself and wrote her name in it, which is just, so completely “stalkerish” it frightens me.

What’s funny is that somehow baby girl (almost three) recognized the book later when I started reading it, pointed to the cover and said “Sarah Dessen.” Of course, I thought this was incredible, so I told her to say: “Sarah Dessen is brilliant,” which she did.

Moral of the story . . . um, go off the beaten path because you never know what you’re gonna find? And . . . it’s never too early to introduce your young to amazing writers.

Yeah. Sounds great. What’s even better: I have a copy of Sarah Dessen’s newest book, which I’ve waited two years for . . . which I’m going to go read . . . right now.

Love,
Leigh