It happened the morning that People magazine called. Heather Lende?s new book ?If You Lived Here, I?d Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska? had just been released by Algonquin Books and the phone was ringing off the hook. For an obituary writer living in Haines, Alaska ? population 2,000, all the new-found fame was overwhelming so she decided to take a bicycle ride.

On a quiet street the driver of a 3.25 ton truck pulled out into traffic without really checking both directions. Mrs. Lende hit the brakes on her racing bike, but skidded under the truck.

?My accident was incredible and it almost killed me,? she told the Bookworm Beat a year later, having almost fully recovered.

?It should have been this very, big happy thing going with the publication of my book. The driver stopped right away. I know him.?

There isn?t a hospital in Haines so Mrs. Lende had to be taken to Seattle, Washington. Her pelvis was completely crushed and for a time, doctors warned her that she might not walk again. To this day, one of her feet is still numb.

?I got the first copy of the book when I was in the nursing home,? she said. ?It was a real nursing home. I asked my husband to give a copy of the book to my roommate. ?Hey Nadine?, I said, ?I wrote a book?. My husband handed it to her. She said, ?It?s very nice, but it?s not in large print.? So the only person I had around me to appreciate the book couldn?t read it.?

Since that time though, there have been many people who have appreciated the book. The first and second run of the hardcover edition sold out and the book is now on its third run.

?It has been way more successful than I anticipated,? she said.

Mrs. Lende did early publicity interviews for the book from her hospital bed.

?I did some of those on morphine,? she said. ?I have no idea what I said to some of them.?

As the book heads for softcover readers are now frequently showing up on Mrs. Lende?s door, unannounced. It?s easy enough to find her in a small town.

The lack of privacy has been something that has been difficult for her to adjust to.

?I get tons of mail,? she said. ?People feel like they know me really well after they?ve read the book. It is a personal look at things. It is funny what people write to strangers.?

The book is based on a column she writes for the Anchorage Daily News about being an obituary writer and the joys and pitfalls of living in Haines and raising a large family.

If the accident did anything, it was to demonstrate just how lucky she really was to live in a town like this.

?It was incredible,? said Mrs. Lende. ?I don?t think the hospital I was at ever had so many letters and flowers. While I was gone, my neighbour moved in with my children so that my husband could be with me in Seattle. My husband runs a lumber yard. While he was gone, people ran the business for him, people ran the household, took care of my pets and my children.

?I don?t have a downstairs bedroom. A friend built a wheelchair ramp for me. When I came home, friends took turn staying with me. I had to have around the clock care. People cooked meals for us for two months. At the same time, my doctor was across the street and he popped in to check on me. It was really a huge community effort. It was like something I had read about in my book, but ten times more. They ended up making me the grand marshal of the parade.?

The book talks about many of her neighbours and town characters. At first she was concerned about what people in Haines would think about the book. But the townspeople were not offended. In fact, they used Mrs. Lende?s book to raise more than $3,000 for hospice care.

?I think everyone in Haines has a book or two in their house,? she said.

Despite the long recovery time, Mrs. Lende is proud that she only missed one of her weekly columns in the Anchorage Daily News.

She said that her accident has given her a new perspective on tragedy and death.

?My mother died last week, almost a year after my accident,? she said.

?Through my mother?s death I have a much greater understanding about what families have been through, the immediate aftermath and the emotions you have. My accident has brought to the fore-front a lot of things you know about instinctually.?

In her book, she was afraid to fly in an airplane. Flying in a small airplane is often required in Alaska if you want to get around. Some of the obituaries that Mrs. Lende wrote were about people who had died in plane crashes, or people who had died in boating accidents.

Therefore, it was slightly ironic that after all her worry about flying, she would be so badly injured on a pedal bike. Since the accident, she isn?t afraid to fly.

?The accident was liberating because a terrible, terrible thing happened to me,? she said. ?I stayed awake. I talked to the EMT. I was brave when I was told I may not walk around. Of all the worst-case scenarios, I had never imagined I would be hurt on a bike. Now that I have survived the worst I am not just not afraid. If the plane goes down, I have a cell phone.?