A couple weeks ago, I was in Baltimore. I had to do my final reviews of the audio version of Spark. Whenever I had a few minutes, I’d pull out my laptop, slap on my headphones and listen to a chapter. I had the book in my lap so that I could compare the narration to the words in print. We’d had to fire our first narrator for pronunciation issues as well as the unnerving ability to make any sentence feel like Mattress Mack screaming “Gallery Furniture really will save you money!”
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a boy of about five approaching. I paused the playback and popped an ear out of my headphones.
When it became apparent that he wanted to say something, I opened with the wittiest line I had at my disposal.
“Hi!”
He’d been staring at the book but glanced up at me for a second. “Hi,” he replied, then continued, “My dad’s reading me that book.”
“This one?” I held up my battered copy of Spark with its sticky notes, dog-eared pages, and my scribbling in the margins.
“Yes.”
Not “yeah,” but “yes.”
“Do you like it?”
Vigorous head nodding.
“I wrote this book.” Okay, I acknowledge the flex here, but any time a fan-in-the-making tells me they like a book I happened to write, I’m going to take credit.
“I know,” came the answer. Then, as quickly as he’d arrived, he left. Given his obvious intellect, I assume now that he was heading off to cure cancer.I’ve been riding that emotional high ever since. Clearly, the child is gifted and has great things in store for him. He obviously has great parents as well.
BTW, the audiobook version of both Spark and Fire should be available mid-October 2024.
What a great story. ❤️
Kid is a genius. Probably takes after his Pop.
Gifted indeed! It’s in his genes.