My First Book Signing! And Stuff. And Sherlock.

This past Saturday, I had my first book signing at my local bookstore, the Bookworm Omaha! It was part terrifying and part wonderful, but 100% amazing!

I had a local bakery, Jones Brothers, make a few dozen book-themed cupcakes. There were none left at the end. I guess nobody obeyed the command written on the icing. ;)

And here I am reading a passage from my book and trying desperately not to stumble over my words. Eep. I was also dorky enough to wear a dress that matched the cover of my book, because I'm a little nutters like that. 

I was so nervous about writing typos in the books when I was signing and forgetting names...I mean, SO nervous. Even though there were a sea of friendly faces, with several of my old writing friends from the Seven Doctors Project there, as well as new writing friends (Rainbow Rowell, a fellow Omaha author, stopped by too. So sweet!) 
But at the end, it went pretty smoothly. Thanks so much to Ellen Scott, the children's department manager who made everything run so nicely!
A few things to mention since my last week. Bear with me! Debut month is a bit crazy, and in some ways, these blog posts are like a diary for me. :)
I wrote a post in the Diversity in YA blog about the difficulty I've had in writing diversity in my books, as a person of color. If you've already read it, thank you so much for your support. It was a tough one for me to write.
Mochi Mag featured me on their website this week. :) Thanks to Catherine Zaw!
The fantastic Elana Johnson interviewed me on the League of Extraordinary Writers. Thanks Elana!
I did a brief NPR interview at our local KIOS station this week. Here's proof:
It should also say "I shamelessly take buttons from nonprofit organizations"That was fun! Steve Langan (a fine poet and the founder of our writing group, The Seven Doctors Project) and I were discussing the project and the upcoming reading and fundraiser. Michael Lyon, our local NPR radio host has a voice like...how shall I put this...butter that's been melting ever so slightly on a sunny English countryside...which sort of made it hard to concentrate. :) 
So if you're in Omaha on Tuesday January 21st, stop by the Slow Down at 7 PM. The most recent students in the group will be reading their work. I'll also be reading from my book as well as a little teaser from CODE (Control #2), and selling books to help benefit the writing group, which is now has nonprofit status! 
On that morning of the 21st at 9:15 AM, Steve and I will be on the KMTV's the Morning Blend discussing the Seven Doctor's Project as well. My first TV appearance!
And at around 5:30 PM, we'll be on the Tom Becka show on AM 1290 KIOL. Busy day!
And finally, my book was reviewed in the Omaha World Herald on Sunday!  The review is seriously, radioactively, adverb-necessitatingly glowing (thank you Carol Bicek for reviewing and supporting YA fiction!) And as an aside, care to see a godawful picture of me? I mean, like, "I'm eating rotten worms" bad? Check it out on the link above. Now I never need to worry about bad photos of me being published on the internet, because IT'S ALREADY HAPPENED. Oh joy.
But honestly, I don't actually care that much because wow. What a fantastic review.

And finally, I just have to admit that I wrote this post while watching The Empty Hearse (for the third time) — Season 3, Episode 1 of Sherlock. Yes, I'm unabashedly SHERLOCKED. Watson isn't so bad, either. I'm hooked, people. It is the only show I'm watching right now. I've no heart and no time for anything else.  Especially when I should be revising, not watching the tele. So...are you Sherlocked too? For those that are, here are the otter/Sherlock/hedgehog/Watson photos, because they always deserve to be shown again. 

Have a happy Monday everyone! So...if you're not Sherlocked, then what's your entertainment poison these days?