I did my first book appearance yesterday. I was invited to appear as one of about 20 writers at the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association's annual Author Feast.
It was a kind of speed-dating with bookstore owners and librarians -- each writer got 20 minutes to talk to a table of folks over dinner about the book s/he had penned. When the bell went off, we rotated to the next table. Before dinner, each author signed about 100 books or so that would be given out at the dinner's end. Richard Oie, of The Book Shoppe, was the wonderful volunteer who helped me sign the books swiftly, opening each book to the right page and handing it to me. He also introduced me to each new table of folks.
Oh, but I almost forgot! There was some drama involved before that. My books had yet to arrive just an hour before the event was set to start. No problem. The wonderful rep. Kurtis and the very wonderful (and fast-driving) rep. Walter took heroic efforts to get the books there in time--I even had enough time to sign the ARCs (I'd been looking forward to it for weeks!). Those guys are so awesome!
The drama was behind me, but then--for just a moment--the anxiety kicked in. What on earth was I going to say about my book?
But you know what? It was WONDERFUL! I couldn't have started the evening off at a better table than Table 18. That's where I met Cynthia of Book Stop, and Karla of Time Enough Books, as well as Claudia and Patty from the Univ. of Idaho Bookstore. They were a delightful, laughter-inducing crew and gave me some great tips with which to carry on the night and future appearances! Thanks guys!
There were many more wonderful people at Table 18 and beyond whose names I didn't catch, or unfortunately, have forgotten (I'm sorry)--but everyone was just a delight! It was such a special night all-around. (Oh, yes, and I met Jenny from Waucoma Bookstore who read the book a few weeks ago in a single-sitting! I'm so happy she liked the book! )
Someone asked me near the end of the evening whether the event was tiring for the authors. "Not for me." I answered. "It's a dream come true to be able to talk about the book and share it with all of you. I don't want the night to end!"
