The Magnificent Old Mermaids Book Drop!

And now the time has come, the walrus said. But not to talk of many things, but to do something marvelous, something wonderful, something inspiring. As some of you know, I have started to leave copies of Church of the Old Mermaids here and there, as gifts to whomever happens to find these copies. I love the idea of COTOM being planted like little seeds all over the country—and the world! What will grow from it?

I've left one in Valencia and Santa Cruz, California. I also dropped one in Ashland and another one in Portland. My father has volunteered to drop them around Scottsdale and along his way from AZ to Michigan when he drives back home. Another friend has volunteered to drop a couple in Ottawa and Tucson. Now I'm asking if any of you would like to be emissaries for the Church of the Old Mermaids and "drop" a copy of the book in your area.

How would this work? One of two ways:

1. You can order the book. When you get it, write on the first page (where the title is) something like, "This book is not lost because you found it. Enjoy it and then pass it on. Let Kim know how it goes." Put the date and the city (and the place, if you like). Then take the book to someplace public and leave it surreptitiously. This can be a school, restaurant, grocery store, pool hall, bar, church, museum, nightclub, race track, the mall, movie theater, subway station, grocery store, etc. Wherever you like. Outdoors probably isn't a good idea unless it's someplace dry and warm. Remember you want a stranger to find it, not a member of your family or someone you know! And try to do it so no one sees you. Then you write to me (via email, Facebook or Twitter), and tell me what you did and what the experience was like for you. I want photographs if you can do that.

2. You can ask me to send you the book. I will write in it and send it to you. And then follow the instructions above. (And remember, Old Mermaids, this isn't about scoring a free copy of Church of the Old Mermaids; it's about spreading the word and the stories of the Old Mermaids and leaving treasures for your fellow human beings—and fellow Old Mermaids.)

Of course, you can embellish these instructions any way you like and use your own creativity when you perform The Magnificent Old Mermaids Book Drop. I'd like to have these drops happen all over the United States—and Canada and Mexico would be fun, too. I want to do this during the First Hundred Days. I'll send out as many as I can afford. (I have to buy the books, too.)

After I get all your reports of your adventures with the Book Drop I'll write them up and post them or publish them. I'm hoping that some of the people who find the book and read it will write to me, too, but we'll see what happens. I'm viewing it all as a way I can gift my stories—and whatever else happens is gravy.

If you're interested in participating in The Magnificent Old Mermaids Book Drop, you can order the book yourself, of course, and then let me know how it goes. If you want me to send you a copy of the book for the Book Drop, then email me with your address.

Make this fun! I want people to create Old Mermaid Sanctuaries all over the world!