Where Am I Wearing as a Common Reader

One of my favorite moments to recollect from my “Where Am I Wearing?” trip was when Dewan (worker in Guangzhou) asked if I would write about him in my book. Then thhere was the idea of a book – no contract, no agent, nothing written but for a few month’s worth of blog posts. At the time, the moment, made me a little uneasy. Besides not knowing what to tell Dewan, I wasn’t sure what to tell myself. Was the experience bookworthy? I thought it was, but would agents and publishers agree?

Last year I started to get invites from universities across the country who wanted me to come to speak at/with their students. I had an absolute blast doing it. Usually a few classes had read my book, but the first experience for many of them to me, my underwear, and our crazy quest was me gibbering away in person.

I’m really excited that this fall the level of interest in “Where Am I Wearing?” continues to grow. Several schools have selected it for their “common reading programs,” buying it for all of their incoming freshman. How cool is that?!? At the time this posts I’ll be chatting with students at Elmhurst College. Over the course of the next two days I’ll meet approximately 600 students who have (were supposed to) read WAIW. And over the next two week, as I travel to several schools in the Charlotte-area, I’ll meet thousands more.

When I read about bestsellers and how many 100s of 1000s of copies they sell, it can be depressing. I feel like small potatoes. But then I think about Dewan and how a small stadium of people have read about him. I can’t help but smile.

 
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