Post Book Signing Event

It was a wonderful day yesterday being a part of Westfield's first Articulture event here in my home town. This was my first appearance here on my own turf and I think people may have been a bit overwhelmed by how much I have done while flying below the radar (I mainly think of myself as a medical secretary and a hobby author, but maybe I need to realign my thinking after this event and put who I actually am ahead of the work I do to help support my family, at least when it comes to events like this.) I was thrilled to meet the other four local authors and enjoyed talking to them and learning about their publishing experiences and how they've promoted their work. I also met an artist I'd been facebook friends with for two years through a mutual friend but had never met in person, Richard Cowles, and it was as if we had known one another forever. Another local artists, Steve Cook, an Afghanistan War vet who paints as post traumatic stress and anxiety therapy had some amazing images. I brought home a print of his gorgeous slightly abstracted rooster to inspire me as I write, and my friend Darlene who sat with me for a couple hours in the morning, took home the matted print for her farm. I also brought home Marcy Heath Robitaille's book Wish You A Goode Journey, about the loss of her daughter at age 17 in a MVA and how her daughter's desire to be an organ donor helped six others to continue living their lives. The other book I snagged was Judith Foard's Senior Year, a romance set in the late 1940's about a girl's relationship with the new boy in town. His name is Rex. I sold her The Subtlety of Light and Shadow in which my main character is a man named Rex Royce. She was reading my book and I was reading her book during lulls. And she came over t tell me that her maiden name had been Palmer. My Rex's love interest is a girl named Lucie Palmer.

The music upstairs could be heard downstairs so we had entertainment during the whole event. I made some valuable local contacts and quickly discussed holiday book signing events in the fall and winter and exchanged contact info with Westfield on Weekends people because I have Haunting Tales books and Holiday books that will fit right in. I also obtained info on a new bookstore opening in town that is very big on promoting local authors and holding author events. I was also able to pass along the READlocal info to the authors because Agawam is practically next door to Westfield.

I came home exhausted but overall with a positive feeling about the whole day. My family and friends were there throughout the day providing me opportunities to take brief breaks, bringing me lunch, providing support and making me laugh! (My brother was a riot sitting at the vacated table beside me after Marcy left at 4PM telling people he was promoting his new book The Emperor's New Book, it really was NOTHING much but he'd be happy to sign it, although is pen held INVISIBLE ink! He was just too much! Had people laughing though- he's such a clown!

Great time! Hope they can do this again in the future!