Fans are wonderful. They send you sweet emails and bring you cookies when you're on tour. They take pictures with you and tell their friends to read all your books. But I have a fan that went WAY above and beyond that.
Meet GI Russ and Clare.
They arrived, totally unheralded and unexpected, at the start of the past holiday weekend. I opened up the post office mailer to discover this box.
You can't see it - I missed it at first - but there's a sticker on top that says "Clare and Russ - MKPD" When I opened the bok, it was, as advertised, a GI Jane helicopter pilot. However, like my heroine Clare, this gal had a teeny tiny clerical dicky on.
And she wasn't alone! There was Russ, wearing the khaki-and-brown Millers Kill Police Department uniform.
You know it's MKPD because there's an actual teeny-tiny shoulder patch that reads "MKPD"
Russ is ready for action. In the sixth book in the series, I SHALL NOT WANT, Russ gets shot because, as his deputy chief says, he's not wearing his goddam vest. This Russ has learned his lesson, and has his tactical gear on.
Clare is suited up for her job as a National Guard helicopter pilot, with her flight vest and helmet.
But of course, her heart is in her clerical service, and for that, she has a black cassock. She's all set to celebrate the Eucharist.
Of course, if it were all gunshots and piloting, my books wouldn't be as popular as they are. There's also... forbidden love.
Forbidden Love.
FORBIDDEN LOVE.
Of course, it's not so forbidden since Russ and Clare tied the knot in ONE WAS A SOLDIER. Don't they make a lovely couple?
Okay, you two, chill out.
GET A ROOM.
I can't convey to you the delight with which I pulled each piece out of the box and how much fun I had dressing Russ and Clare up and playing with them. This really is the most extraordinary thing (my daughters would say "extra") any fan has ever done.
Reds and readers, is there anything that fans have done for you that made you marvel? Is there something you've done for someone whose work you love?
