Hey, there, folks! I had my first There Goes the Galaxy trilogy book signing on Sunday at 1806 Uniques and Antiques in Jennerstown, PA, and it not only was beautiful weather, it turned out to be a very positive experience.
Because I'm me I was, of course, neurotically over-prepared. I was pretty much stocked with pens like my character Rollie is with handlasers. I had a back-up, a back-up back-up, a back-up of the back-up back-up... Oh, and a spare or two.
But LOOK! Look at the nice little shelf area we had with books available for sale! (They are still selling my books there, by the way. So if you didn't get to pop by and say hi, and you're missing a paperback, they have all three-- signed. There's also a special deal they're running if you buy more than one.)
One of the artisans in the shop, Duella Fern, made some little themic soaps to go with the book as a giveaway to the first people. It's got a green alien finger on a spacey, sparkly background. (No aliens were harmed in the making of the soap, by the way.)
I had a little library desk to command for signing, and also to put my 5,000 pens.
And they had refreshments for everyone, including a TGTG-themed cake! We know Bertram Ludlow would have been all about that (free food!).
Just a close-up of the cake.
The folks that stopped by had some really insightful questions, which I appreciated a lot. And we talked about the books, the writing process, some tips for aspiring writers, etc. I got to hear about people's favorite books and had the good fortune to speak with some young avid readers, which is always refreshing for the soul. I got to see some relatives I haven't seen in a long while, and even some of my friends from Pittsburgh came out to be supportive! All in all, it was a very good day and I was pretty happily tired by the end of it.
So now it's back to the grind and to working on The Curious Case of Mary Ann. I'm over 45,000 words now and heading toward wrapping up this draft. Much will be added in subsequent drafts, but the bones are there.
Hope you all have a great week!
--Jenn
