I am officially an author!

I got confirmation this morning that RibbonX - Customizing the Office 2007 Ribbon was sent to the printers on Wednesday. 🙂 (I blogged that it was coming here.)

The publishing of this book, which happens officially on December 17, 2007, makes me a third generation author. Even better, though, I'm a third generation author, specializing in the field of Bedtime Reading for Insomniacs!

• Back in 1978, my Grandmother, Herta Puls, wrote a book all about the textiles of the Kuna Indians of Panama. From my understanding she was an expert on the subject, and was fascinated by Mola's. (This involves several different layers of coloured cloth. The individual would then cut patterns into the cloth to different levels of depth, creating colourful patterns. Most of these patterns were abstract, until white man arrived on the scene and started requesting pictures. In my grandmothers eyes, this transformed the entire work of the people and ruined the style forever.) What amazes me the most about this book is that you can apparently still order it, as I found a link for it on the net. What's even funnier, though, is that in searching I also found a rant that she wrote recently. I honestly didn't think she'd embraced the internet, as she's in her 90's. Shows what I know, I guess. 😉
• My father, Robert Puls was the world's leading expert in animal toxicology. (He retired a few years ago, which is why I say "was".) I like to summarize his job as analyzing blood and serum samples to see why animals died. The more detailed version is that he looked for deficiencies and toxicities of vitamins and minerals in the blood, and through his 30 odd years built up the definitive guides that many others in the field refer to. He has published three books in all; "Mineral Levels in Animal Health", "Vitamin Levels in Animal Health" and the Bibliographies of Mineral Levels which, if you can believe it, was as good a seller as the other two. Dad's books have even been converted into an electronic database by a company called ZinPro. If you really are an insomniac, and want something to put you to sleep, I'd highly recommend the first set. The contact information is here, and yes, the covers really are that boring! (I know, I know... the site is ugly. My parents have been bugging me to do something about that.
• And now me. The third generation of writers that is on a topic so... well... let's just say that many people wouldn't be interested in our passions. 😉

At any rate, if you ARE into my world, an insomniac, know someone who fits into either category, or just don't know what to get someone for Christmas, pre-orders for RibbonX are already being accepted at Wiley, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Chapters.ca and many others resellers. If you need to have it under the tree on the 25th, though, you may have to visit a local store within the last week before Christmas.