Meeting Readers in Gainesville, TX

This past Saturday, Regina Jennings and I had the honor of participating in a book launch event celebrating the Serving Up Love Harvey House Brides novella collection in Gainesville, TX. We had such a great time! Readers drove in from as far as 6 hours away! (Kari Scott gets the award for driving the farthest. You rock, Kari!)

We kicked things off with a tour of the historic Santa Fe Depot and Harvey House that is still standing in Gainesville. This is the setting for my novella, and I loved getting to return to the place I had visited during my research. There was even one room open this time around that had been closed previously. That was a fun bonus! The Morton Museum volunteers dressed in Harvey Girl uniforms and ran the tour. What a fount of knowledge they provided on the local history. Fabulous!

Here are Regina and I in the Harvey Lunchroom with the sample swivel chair and counter set with Harvey china. See that giant horseshoe marked out in the floor? That’s my favorite part! That is left from when the actual lunch counter stood there. You can see exactly where it was and imagine what it was like for the Harvey Girls to serve from inside the horseshoe. They actually were trapped behind the counter since the door from the pantry led directly into the center of the horseshoe. They would have to through the pantry and enter the lunchroom from outside to get to the other side of the counter.

Unlike some Harvey Houses that had a formal dining area with tables and chairs, the smaller lunchroom in Gainesville only had the counter, but they could seat up to 40 customers at one time.

After our tour of the Depot, we all congregated at a local community center for a fun pie social and book presentations. Harvey Houses were famous for their pie. They served it by the quarter slice – 1/4 of an entire pie! Our slices were a little slimmer, but just as delicious.

Regina gave a fun talk about female Pinkerton agents including several actual cases covered by the first female Pink, Kate Warne.

I shared about the inspiration behind the collection as well as the local research that found life in my story. (Yes, I am known for talking with my hands. Ha!)

All in all, it was a great day. I got to meet several Facebook friends in person for the first time, and was even asked to sign Paula’s Kindle! That was a first for me. I was so awed by the request, I had to obtain pictorial evidence to prove it hadn’t been a figment of my imagination. Ha!

We had several local superstars who helped bring this event together. Bonnie McKee is a reader friend who spearheaded getting the event started. Jennifer Johnson-Spence is the librarian who took charge and made it happen with help from her Cook Country Friends of the Library and Morton Museum volunteers.

Here are Regina and I with Jennifer – the woman who made it all happen!

Getting to meet readers face-to-face is a rare and joyous occasion. And getting to host an event with my good friend Regina, made it all the more fun.

If you could meet two authors of your choice, who would you choose?