Book Cookies

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Butter and sugar are transformed into book cookies to celebrate the release of a brilliant new book.

My mom has tried to explain to me for years how quickly time passes as you get older. And with the exception of sitting in the lobby of the doctor’s office or standing four deep in line at a deli counter, she’s right. I feel I’m always in need of another hour or two of sleep or wishing I could stretch the day to tick another item off my list. And it seems as if I’ve blinked and those little moon-faced babies of mine are well on their way to getting smart mouths and body odor. But while time has sharpened their features and lengthened their limbs and I occasionally get nostalgic flipping through old photos, at least I know my boys have time on their side. This is not the case in the debut novel “Counting Thyme“, written by my friend Melanie Conklin.

“Counting Thyme” is the story of Thyme, a middle-school student and older sister to Val, a little boy recently diagnosed with cancer. Thyme’s family is uprooted and forced to move from California to New York so her brother can participate in a drug trial. But instead of focusing on Val’s story, the novel is told from Thyme’s perspective and demonstrates how the disease effects the whole family, not just the sick child. It’s both the story of Thyme, the girl, facing tumultuous changes at a tender age and time, and how we carefully measure it when we’re afraid there’s never enough.

Our local bookstore Words celebrated the release of Melanie’s book last week with a book reading/signing and a special bake sale benefiting Cookies for Kids Cancer. This is a fantastic organization that supports bake sales throughout the country benefiting pediatric cancer research and Melanie has partnered with them to host bake sales at each of her signings. My son’s school was the proud sponsor of this bake sale and he and many of his fellow 5th grade classmates eagerly sold the cookies and confections donated by family and friends. My contribution to the sale was iced, buttery sugar cookies decorated as books using my go-to recipe found here. The event was a great success with funds being donated to a very worthy cause as well as an opportunity for the kids to see the value of hard work and philanthropy.

Speaking of hard work, can I just say that I am in awe of Melanie and of so many authors after seeing what goes into creating a book. It takes putting yourself out there, being open to and accepting of criticism over and over again. You have to stand strong in the face of rejection, write and rewrite words that have become so precious throughout the process. I’m beyond impressed with the dedication and yes, the time it takes to produce and promote a book. Congratulations to Melanie on the launch of her first (though certainly not least) novel. I hope you’ll check it out and maybe swing by one of her events and buy a cookie. It will be well worth your time.