Rebecca Connolly's Blog, page 11

Book Release Party

On June 30th, I had a book release party for An Arrangement of Sorts at the cutest little bookstore ever, Heterotopia. Unfortunately, it’s no longer in business as storefront property, but is now a subscription book club based in the Cincinnati area. Check it out! I know the owners, and they are wonderful!

It was so much fun to have this party to celebrate something so incredible! I’d never done anything like this before, so we just sort of went with what we would have liked… Books, friends, and food!

My mom came down from Indiana and went all out with the food and let me stay focused and worried and excited about all things book-related. Some of our close friends and some new fans showed up, and it was so much fun! Enjoy the pictures of one of the funnest days I’ve ever had! (And yes, I know funnest isn’t a word. Shh!)

Such a fun day, and such yummy food!
Such cute girls! They were SO EXCITED!
Some of my very favorite people, and very first fans!
It meant so much to have my friends come!
This incredible woman took time to come support me, and brought me to tears. It’s an honor to be part of her family.
My mom is incredible! Love her!

I’m so glad I had this party. You have to celebrate the little steps because each one is special! Can’t wait to get the next book launched and see what happens!

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An Arrangement of Sorts

I get asked every now and then about this book. It’s my first published work, and there are lots of questions about that.

So let’s talk the building of this first book.

First of all, it’s not my first book. Hardly. I couldn’t tell you when I had my first book idea, but I can tell you when I completed my first book beyond the cute little kids books. I was in college and going through a situation that I could not control, and that bothered me. So I was driving in my car one day and a song came on my playlist, and it was a song I loved. But this time, the song triggered a scene in my head and I knew immediately I wanted to write the story that went with that scene. I could control how that story went, and I wanted to capture it.

So I did.

It took me months, but I did it. My roommate wanted to kill me, but I did it. That book will most likely never see the light of day, but I wrote an entire novel. And then another. And then I started a third, and life reminded me that it needed me to do some things, so I went along with it for a while.

When life settled down again, my imagination went haywire, and An Arrangement of Sorts came about! It was so much fun to get back into writing, and to be able to complete the book without any hiccups. I laughed out loud at times, I made myself swoon [we won’t talk about how often THAT happens], and I squealed when I got a turn of phrase just right.

It was way too much fun. And I wanted to do it again.

So I did.

I had no intention of publishing right away. I was just writing for fun, just for me. That went on for years. Then, out of the blue, with several manuscripts [some good, some bad] under my belt, I thought back to Arrangement and it’s wonderful characters. And suddenly I wanted to share them with the world. It took some tweaking, some major edits, lots of patience, thick skin, and the stars aligning just right, but eventually… it worked.

At the book release party for An Arrangement of Sorts!

And now it’s out, and I’m so proud. Terrified, but proud. This book will always be special to me because it’s my first baby to leave the nest. What a wild ride it’s taken me on, and what a fun adventure it’s started for me!

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