For a novelist, it’s a five-world phrase that’s Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major to Mozart fans, or dairy-free ice cream to a vegan.

It was 2006 and Michelle Richmond had reached the pinnacle of praise with “The Year of Fog.”  From here to eternity, she would be forever be knighted  “New York Times Best Seller,” an introduction forever linked to her name.

“I remember it very clearly,” Richmond said by phone. “It was shocking.”

Achieving “New York Times Best Seller” status wasn’t close to Richmond’s thoughts. A few months into motherhood with her son, she was more into pacifiers than plaudits.

“I was absorbed in that. That was my life,” she said.

She was, coincidentally, living in San Francisco’s Richmond District at the time and received a surprise bouquet of flowers from her editor.

“I was thrilled, of course,” Richmond recalled. “That’s a big moment, especially since I was excited just to get a book out.”

It’s not as if “The Year of Fog” rose quickly with a bullet. More like a wounded pigeon. Only when “Fog” hit paperback did it sell the required number of copies.

“It was a slow burn,” Richmond said, grateful for any honor that helps separate her from the herd.

“You can’t throw a pebble in San Francisco without hitting a writer,” she said, acknowledging that the “New York Times Best Seller” tag “is really helpful in marketing.”

Ah, but that was years ago after Richmond already waltzed through “The Girl in the Fall-Away Dress,” in 2001, and “Dream of the Blue Room” in 2002. Richmond, now living with her son and husband on the peninsula, followed “The Year of Fog” with “No One You Know” in 2008, “An Exciting New Career in Medicine” in 2010,  “Hum: Stories,” in 2014, “The Marriage Pact” in 2017, and her latest work, “The Wonder Test,” released this week.

Richmond discusses her new effort at the 21st Annual Solano County Library Foundation’s Authors Luncheon on Sunday, Nov. 7, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Rancho Solano in Fairfield. Other authors include: Former San Francisco 49er Bubba Paris, Alice Wilson-Fried, Claire Splan, and Alexandra Boiger.

Sharing the spotlight at the upcoming authors’ luncheon is welcomed, Richmond said.

“I look forward to it. I don’t get nervous about these things. The only event that makes me nervous is if it’s a bookstore and I’m the attraction,” she said. “I worry that nobody shows up.”

Richmond has refined this talent of writing. Eight novels does that. If she read that first one — “Girl in the Fall-Away Dress” — for the first time today?

“I would think she’s got a lot to learn,” said Richmond of her then-29 year old self, though recognizing “she’s got some talent.”

“When you write your first book of fiction, there’s this raw energy and maybe lack of creativity,” Richmond said. “You might be better at the craft 20 years later, but I think it’s hard to re-create that raw energy of a brand new writer. You’re doing everything without rules.”

San Francisco’s always been inspiring for the author, considering it the top city in the world — and she’s lived in Paris.

“My family visited San Francisco when I was 13 and I absolutely fell in love with it,” Richmond said. “I thought, ‘I’m going to live here one day.’”

It’s not a complete surprise Richmond became a writer with her nose always into a book.

“To be a good writer, I think you have to have the ability and desire to read,” Richmond said. “For someone who has an inclination to write and has been reading since they were young, they’re probably already self-taught in a way and a writer can always learn ‘craft’ in a class. Someone who is not a reader will never be a good writer.”

It’s not as if Richmond inherited the talent or developed it by osmosis.

“I didn’t grow up in a writing household at all,” she said. “I never knew a writer until I was in college. I grew up in a storyteller household. My grandfather, whom I never met, had been a preacher. In the household, there was the rhythm of language that I probably absorbed as a child. I think people can be taught certain aspects of writing. I think there’s innate inclination that some people have and others don’t that can be taught.”

Reaching the end of writing a book is never really the end, Richmond said, feeling both “relief and dread” when the last chapter is finished because significant revising is inevitable.

“A super-lengthy process that doesn’t have the joy of the initial flash of inspiration. It’s all plumbing work,” Richmond said. “When I finish a book, I know there’s so much more work to be done.”

Solano County Library Foundation will host the 21st Annual Authors Luncheon on Sunday, Nov. 7, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Clubhouse at Rancho Solano.

To sponsor a table or to purchase individual tickets to the Luncheon contact: Solano County Library Foundation, 1-707-421-8075 or visit SolanoLibraryFoundation.org.