Read an Excerpt
Mildred's Book store
By Mike Nystrom
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2012 Mike Nystrom
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4634-3988-0
Foreword
I cannot remember how long ago I began making up book titles and authors, but my earliest recollection goes back to the 1970's when I was a manager at a retail dairy store. I would share at least one book title with my employees each day. This was at least 10 years before I met my wife, Jocelyn. The seed was planted a few years earlier while I was in the U.S. Air Force when I heard a few serviceman use rather lewd and off-color titles. As a Christian, however, I resolved that my titles would always be clean and in good taste.
More than 30 years have elapsed since those days at the retail dairy outlet. In those 30+ years many sources have inspired hundreds of book titles covering many topics represented in this brief volume. The biggest source of inspiration came from my work experiences, especially in customer service jobs, when I had exposure to dozens of people's names a day. In those instances, the surname provided hundreds of ideas for book titles. I love to do puzzles, such as the daily crosswords and Jumble puzzles featured in our local newspaper, The Oregonian. Many clues and solutions from these puzzles have inspired book titles and authors. Many ideas have originated from everyday speech, whether from my family, friends, and acquaintances, or from what I hear on TV and radio. And I cannot forget the inspiration from books and other written material.
In those early days I recorded titles on scraps of paper and kept them in a box. (I was not the epitomy of organization in those days.) Fortunately, after Jocelyn and I were married in 1989, she bought me a ruled Composition notebook to keep all my titles together. I am presently nearly halfway through my second such notebook.
You may be wondering why I chose Mildred's Book Store as the title for this collection, especially since I am a male. I thought Mildred was a good name for an entrepreneur, and it begins with 'M', the first letter in my name Michael. I chose a woman's name, because I have learned over the years that women are more dedicated and more trustworthy than men. Not only are women more dedicated to making a home for their families than their husbands, but they are equally dedicated to their professions or jobs outside the home. Certainly in my work experience I found women to be more fair, more honest, and more caring than their male counterparts ... especially in a supervisory role. (Sorry, men!)
If, upon reading these titles with amusement and pleasure, you are asking why I didn't publish them before now, it's probably because I didn't believe there was much of a market for them. However, in recent months Jocelyn encouraged me to compile what I felt were among my best books titles and have them published. So I accepted her challenge and began organizing them into sections. This was no small task as I had accumulated about three thousand titles over the years. As I undertook this project I found many duplications, which eliminated about two or three hundred. In some cases I had to decide which section fit the title the best. I also observed my tendency to overuse names like Ben, Ken, Ann, and Will, so in some cases I used a different first name or initials that would work just as well. I faced the same problem with overused last names like Bull, Moore, Lee, See, Suss, and many others. Since finding a suitable alternative last name was not so easy, I eliminated some titles from this volume. I hope you are satisfied with the final product.
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Excerpted from Mildred's Book store by Mike Nystrom Copyright © 2012 by Mike Nystrom. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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