Monday, October 25, 2010

Monday Musings "I'm Late, I'm Late, I'm Late"

I got a bit of a late start on this article. Blame it on insanity and an incredibly busy life of late, lol! Today’s sort of a hodgepodge of stuff. I have some great guest visiting over the next couple weeks.

This past Saturday, I had the chance to spend time with a friend, Olivia Cunning, part of my incredible online writing group, The Writing Wombats. I’ve met quite of few of the Wombats at conferences and events.

Saturday was Olivia’s first book signing with Backstage Pass, and the first book in the hot new series, Sinners On Tour. What a great time! Olivia had wonderful hosts (Doug and Shannon Wilson) at Village Book Store in Columbia. Doug Wilson was hamming it up in the store—I get the impression he does this on a regular basis, in fact I have it on good authority he can be a lovable dork. I loved meeting him. I did see him with his semi serious face recommending various books to an avid reader and was impressed with both his love and knowledge of various genres and authors.

The fabulous Becky is standing
Becky Asher was fabulous as well. She had read Backstage Pass, not once but several times. She not only talks it up but also was able to pull together a huge group to stop by while Olivia was there, some from online (like Facebook), the Village reading group, and the normal walk in customers that stopped by to see what was going on in our section of the store. I’m sure all the laughter and high-jinx drew some as well. And we did have lots of laughter. She was a grand hostess, running for drinks and goodies, making sure everyone had something to munch on or drink. I took a wrong turn getting to the store and had to call—only to find out I was merely a couple of blocks away—but she waited outside the door for me to arrive! Wow! I have a great deal of respect for her knowledge of genres and authors who write them and book industry in general. Part of the Village reading group was there and the discussion that ensued was remarkable as was the span of ages of the visitors in addition to having both males and females participating in the lively discussions.

Olivia knows well how to handle a crowd but I brought her chocolate just in case she needed an extra boost. I’m thinking I should have brought some Motrin or Aleve to for her arm and hand. She signed so many books it’s a wonder it didn’t fall off. The good news was she sold all the books the store had on hand and the extras ordered in for the signing event. The only thing that would have made this a better event was if we could have had the Sinners with us, lol!

If you you’re anywhere near Village Book Store, do stop by and visit with the amazing staff. It’s well worth the trip!

Upcoming guests: Glenda Larke, Stormlord Rising, Sheila Roberts , The Snow Globe, Donna Grant, Wicked Highlander, Nina Bruhn, Shadow of the Sheik (Immortal Sheiks Trilogy), Caridad Piñeiro , Stronger Than Sin.

So be sure to stop by and visit with us!