So I turned The Big 5-0 over the 2nd days of Passover.
I spent it with my family, who showered me with cards and gifts and love. It was wonderful.
Also wonderful was the lead-up to my birthday.
In the intervening days between the 1st and 2nd days of Passover, someone, somewhere in the universe - perhaps online, perhaps in a brick & mortar - decided to avail themselves of one of my wares, and therefore became my 10,000th book customer.
I don't know who this person is, and I don't know which book it was, but if you grabbed any of my books during chol hamoed, it might have been you - and I'm thankful.
It took me about 10 years to move my first 5,000 books, and I've now moved that many books again, in half the time. I like this math, and I appreciate my family, friends, sounding boards, acquaintances, confidants, customers, book talk wranglers, podcasters, advisors, bookstore proprietors, librarians, audience members, book club arrangers, executives, executive directors, executive assistants, publishers, editors, editors in chief, editors at large, influencers, magazine staff, newspaperpeople, rebbeim, fellow writers, and myriad versions of the four sons who have been the village to make this all happen.
Thank you, from a happy heart.
With gratitude,
Martin (Mordechi) Bodek
P.S. Now accepting a) ideas for my next haggadah, and b) stories for my current project: If We Could Talk: Cherished Artifacts that Survived WWII to be Used in the Present Day. The title says it all. If you have something that fits, please get in touch.
P.P.S. Just signed up for AARP. This is really happening.