Virtual Launch Party: Strip Off Your Fear

Confidence is sexy How to start a book club

Virtual Launch Party: Strip Off Your Fear

Editor's Note: March 15, 2012, 12:01 a.m. Pacific to 11:59 p.m. Pacific. Be there or be square. Get your free copy of Strip Off Your Fear during that time and then pay it forward by buying a copy for a friend tomorrow. It's a love fest of naked confidence for us all!

The Scene: It is a gorgeous, crisp night and you walk up to the restaurant to see dozens of people waiting to get in. The buzz is in the air, and you are excited about this book launch party. You look around and see several friends among the strangers and you are glad they got your Facebook updates, tweets, and Pinterest posts about the book and party today. You laugh and joke with the people around you as you slowly make your way to the door.

Hey, there's Betsy and Warren!

Well, hello there. Thank you for coming to our book launch party! It's so nice to see you again. Let us take your coat. You know, we have to confess we were worried some of you would show up naked under your trench coats given the title of the book. You are a very unpredictable bunch! (Okay, okay, it was really just Tranque we were worried about.)

The hair? Yep, it's new. Just yesterday in fact. I can't stop rubbing my head, and neither can Warren!

You brought us a bottle of Ketel One vodka? Why thank you. Darcey Howard is going to be thrilled to put this behind the bar. She's mixing a lot of her Skinny Strip cocktails tonight! Come on over and try one. You'll like this – and she does heavy pours. In her day job, Darcey shows women how to dress themselves and their businesses to reflect their mission and values, but her not-so-secret superpower is knowing where the best food and drink can be found in New York City, and she's not afraid to use it. When this party is over, I'm following her out the door.

Before you get too tipsy, be sure to head over to the virtual Amazon table and pick up your copy of Strip Off Your Fear: Slip Into Something More Confident. It's free until 11:59 p.m. Pacific on Thursday, March 15. Why? Because we know how to throw a good party. (Don't have a Kindle? No problem. There are free Kindle reading apps for just about every electronic device.)

Well, if you insist, of course you can go back tomorrow and buy copies for your friends. And every day after that until the end of time. You can even tell them where to go so they can buy their own, pass the word, share on social media, and walk around with cardboard signs. Really, we don't mind. Talk about it all you want. Muchas gracias.

photo by mediafury via Flickr

You look to your left and see Rob laughing with Joanna and Beth. Is that Peggy over there telling jokes to nrhatch, Angela, and Paz? Wait a second…are Kent and Caanan going up on stage to sing Brick House? This party is really heating up.

Hey, Warren. Can you turn up the music?

Did I mention we have a playlist to go with the book? It just seemed to work so well with the subject of stripping and image. The whole playlist is available on iTunes, though I'm betting you probably have a lot of these songs already. Now that I think about it, I should have used Carly Simon's You're So Vain. Damn, we're probably going to be thinking of songs to add to this playlist for weeks – all with the visual image of you guys going up on stage to take your turn at the mic. I knew the karaoke machine was a good investment.

Feta and Walnut Stuffed Magic Mushrooms

Rule-breaking deviled eggs

Sexy scallops

Hungry? Of course you are. How could you pass up this kind of food? My friend Karen Rosenzweig from Seattle made the Sexy Scallops (actual pornography on a plate, isn't it? Mmmmm). She's the sexy spitfire standing over there in the snazzy fedora live-tweeting the party on her phone to her army of fans.

My Canadian expat friend Alison Cornford-Matheson created the Feta and Walnut Stuffed Magic Mushrooms and Rule-Breaking Deviled Eggs. Thai food is mostly cheese-free, so I'm doubly glad Alison arrived from her home in Brussels with feta. Mmmmm, cheese. Alison is the smiling redheaded photographer in the Indian-inspired outfit snapping photos of the people on the dance floor.

Speaking of the dance floor, did you know Leslie Irish Evans could do the splits without spilling her drink? Impressive!

Samantha Searle popped in from the Australian Outback to attend the party and create the cake. I just burst out in tears the minute she showed the it to me. It really is terrific, isn't it?

Hard to believe she kept that little figure on top through the plane ride and customs. The woman has talent! And she looks great in a shimmery evening gown, don't you think?

I love how we can all come together from all the corners of the globe to toast confidence and getting emotionally naked with ourselves and the people we love.

Speaking of which, I need to head back to the door and greet the other guests. Please mingle around, have some more food and drink, and chat it up with the others in the comments.

Tell us what you most like about the book, the party, and the subject of confidence. Hey, you can even take your turn at the karaoke machine if you like. (If Kent will give up the mic, that is.)

What's next?

Of course you can have the recipes for your own party. They are all in the Book Club Planning Guide mentioned in the book, along with Darcey's cocktail recipe, the link to the playlist, discussion questions, and even suggestions on making the evening more enjoyable. If you want to know more, you can also find the reason I wrote the book and a little bit about the people who jumped in to help. It's been a love fest.

We like to have a good time around here, and since you're going to want to discuss this with your friends after you read the book, we wanted to give you an easy roadmap to do it.

Stay tuned for my conversation with the fabulous Debb Whitlock of FemmeNation on Monday, March 27 at 9 a.m. Pacific (streaming online and live on KKNW 1150 radio locally in Seattle). We'll be talking about the book and announcing the details of the virtual book club and Twitter party for women all over the world on April 23.