By Mary Becilia

Earlier this year, I sent my sister an email that may prove to be historic. Or not. Time will tell. But you, dear Fred Parent readers, are the first to know that I am THINKING about writing a book. And, I am trying to enlist my sister's collaboration. You see, I think she might just be a wee bit better a writer than yours truly. Hence, her participation in my literary jaunt would be beneficial to me, right? Also, between the two of us we have about 15 followers on our blogs and 13 of them are hers. If you would like to swell our ranks, see the links at the bottom of this essay. Thanks...any day now we will collectively crack the big 2-0!

Ah yes, the email. I want to get this baby documented so that down the road, when Jon Stewart is interviewing us, there is no doubt as to who was the generator of this (as I put it so modestly in the original subject line: " BRILL IDEA"). Here you go, ladies and gentlemen, you are my witnesses:

On Mon, Jan 13, 2014 2:29 PM, Mary Becelia wrote:

BTW: random thought, would you want to CO-WRITE a book? I can see you flinching and dropping your phone in horror. Maybe it is a Bad Idea. But I feel like we could do something fun. Mull it over. No knee jerking. LMK...topic up for grabs though I am thinking self-deprecating first person nonfiction seems to be both our forte.

On Mon, January 13, 2014 2:41 PM, Mary's sister wrote:

[picks up phone from floor]
Okay, I'll MULL IT OVER. Maybe we can talk about it when you come for the weekend.

Note my tentative broaching of the idea. I am not entirely sure that my sister will want to embark upon this project. Sometimes I am not even sure if my sister likes me very much, or would like working with me AT ALL. I can be, er, a little bit bossy and annoying. (But hey! I own it! I own it AND I self-deprecate about it...all the time! Doesn't that make up for my know-it-all moments and occasional Big Sister Overbearingness?)

If we do write this book, I already have the first chapter planned out.

Oh. You think maybe sis should get the first chapter? Let me consider that. Or as she would say, "Mull it over." Doesn't she have a way with words? Can't you see it already, her trenchant wit even from that snippet, not to mention her parenthetical scene setting reference: "picks up phone from floor."? Has Chelsea Handler ever written anything approaching that? I think not. Can my little sister give David Sedaris a run for his money? Abso-%&(&!#&lutely! Am I shamelessly trying to pander to her ego with this absurd flattery? Um. Yeah. You got me.

So guys, stay tuned. Like I said, you are the first to know about this thing-that-may-or-may-not-occur. But I'm kinda excited. It's fun to have something different to think about. I mean, science projects, play dates and who tracked the mud in from the front yard DO occupy a good chunk of my mental mommy energy but not all of it.

And by the way? If there are erors in this colum? Blame my sistr. She is my go-to editor but obviousely I did not share this one with her. I need to SHOW her that I need her. Did I succede? I'll let you know!

My blog: http://www.marybecelia.com/
My sister's (much better) blog: http://msforhypochondriacs.blogspot.com/