Don’t mind the post title–I’m feeling… I don’t know. Shocked? Discombobulated? It’s been a big weekend full of unexpected things, and I’m not just talking about U.S. politics. Friday night was my very first book event for A Misfortune of Lake Monsters, and it was PACKED. The bookstore, Big Blue Marble, sold out of copies of AMOLM. Many friends, coworkers, and teammates came to support me. It was… weird and delightful and unexpected and, well, it was everything!
Let me start at the beginning, just for context. I started off with a panel discussion booked with my preorder partner store, A Novel Idea. The idea of doing a single author event or a launch event filled me with the kind of anxiety I usually reserve for Cheez Whiz. I’m not a total noob to book events. When The Trajectory of Dreams was published about a decade ago, I had a few events–and one of them was of the variety where hardly anyone comes to hear me blabber. It wasn’t fun. So this time around, I thought, hey, discussion panels. Festivals. Cons. But then an unexpected thing happened: bookstores started emailing me to ask if I’d do events there, too, some of whom didn’t really do discussion panels. AMOLM is out with a small press… so of course I’m not going to say no. And so that’s how I ended up at Big Blue Marble bookstore this past Friday, practically awash in hives that I had dragged the wonderful Stephanie Willing (voice of Lemon in the AMOLM audiobook edition) down from northern NJ to be my conversation partner, only for it to be us and my husband in a room, crickets chirping.
Okay, so there’s your context. And here’s what actually happened….
My stomach unclenched when the first couple of people arrived. And then it unclenched more. And more. And more. It was standing-room-only up in there. WHAT? I am going to blame the nearly full moon since we had a Buck Moon (also called the Thunder Moon or the Hay Moon, apparently) on Sunday night for driving people to this event. I’m NEVER lucky enough for something to go 100 percent right, but this event did. I wasn’t nervous to talk. Stephanie was lovely and wonderful (seriously–she’s so great. Go read her middle grade book, West Of The Sea. It’s super good). Everyone had a good time (I think). Even I had fun! I don’t think I even said anything too weird or off-putting. It’s a little bit of a miracle.
I will say that now that the first event is over, and that it did go well, it’s like a big weight has been lifted. There’s that whole trope about holding your breath… well, breath released, y’all! And now it’s time for the other fourteen events that are scheduled. Yeah, 14. Like I said, I hate to say no! Next up is a book signing this coming Sunday at Bethany Beach Books in Bethany Beach, Delaware. I’m pure delighted to say that I get to hang out with Jenny Adams for this one. Jenny is the author of the historical mystery A Deadly Endeavor, set in 1920s Philadelphia. It’s a really fun read! So if murder, mayhem, lake monsters, and Pennsylvania settings are your thing, I hope you’ll swing by on Sunday to see us, buy a book, and get your copies signed!
For the other events, do take a look at my Events page. I’m whirling around Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware… and Iceland. Weee!
