Wow, what an amazing night! I told you I’d share photos with you of my book launch party for The Majorettes are Back in Town, so here we go . . .
Here’s what the display table looked like before the event with my friend Dave being his happy self. There were books stacked all around the other side of the table as well. And after the party . . .
Picked clean. There were more cases of books in the back room that also came out and were sold. Gone with the wind, baby!
When I arrived early and saw all the chairs they had set up, I panicked and thought, “Oh please, dear God, just let me have 10 people here!” Stephanie, from Page and Palette, counted 88 inside the room, then said she turned around and there were 20 or so more in the bookstore mingling around buying the book!
My dear friend, Ron Meszaros introduced me and what a great storyteller he is! He had the crowd captivated and I think they wanted to hear more from him! This is Stephanie from Page and Palette beside Ron. She does a great job organizing all the author events. The bar area (yes, our bookstore has a bar— perhaps that accounts for the high sales!) made a special Mango Majorette Margarita just for the event!
Then, I got to speak for a few minutes. I kept thinking to myself, “this is so much fun — No, wait! I’m going to pass out!” Seeing familiar faces calmed me, and seeing people I’d never met before was thrilling, knowing they have been reading my column and came out just to see me and get a book! A wonderful, sweet couple said they live in Minnesota part-time and read my column on-line there. You just never know who is reading!
Then I signed books (with my charming Joseph helping), and signed and signed. Someone said, “You have a long name! I’ll bet your hand hurts.” I thought, well, as a matter of fact it does hurt, but at the same time, it felt great! I would have gladly signed books until my hand fell off!
What a humbling, joyful, moving-me-to-tears experience to have such loyal and kind readers.
My writer’s group friends were there to support me, and here is Jule, who was one of the people who were calming for me to see in the crowd! The snacks were little cups of black-eyed peas, cornbread, biscuits, pound cake and pimento cheese. Baldwin County peanuts were on the tables in little Mason jars — with bows tied on them, so they’d be classy! The flowers were sent to me by my Aunt Beth and Uncle Phil in Birmingham and looked great on the table. How nice!
More books are being rushed over by my publisher this morning from New Orleans, so I’ll be all set and ready to go again soon. I’m working on appearances in Mobile, Birmingham and Huntsville and will let you know the dates and times as soon as I find out the details. I’ll be at The Junior League of Mobile’s Christmas Jubilee at the Mobile Convention Center this Saturday from 2-4pm, so you can come see me there if you’re in Mobile! A HUGE thank you to all who have supported me and bought books so far. This is so fun to see God’s plan unfold like this. Kind readers and good friends make for a great day, and I had a super-great day! Thank you!!!