I had a great time at the "Meet the Authors" event last night in Gloucester County. The event, which was a collaborative effort of nine small libraries was a huge success. The community turned out in large numbers for a chance to chat informally with the 41 authors who agreed to participate. I shared a table with author Tom Wilk, who I had not met before last night.
Tom is a journalist by profession and is the co-author of two wonderful books about New Jersey -
New Jersey Firsts: The Famous, Infamous and Quirky of the Garden State and
Tales of South Jersey: Portfolios and Personalities. Tom is writing informative essays about some of the same NJ oddities that I use fictionally in my mysteries.
Across the room, I spotted an author that I've never met "in real life", Christine Norris, a fellow xangan (to be accurate, a former xangan) that some of you probably knew as kidswriter.
So I spent the evening chatting with authors and readers, children and adults, selling a few books, but mostly just soaking in a room filled with people who love books. People like my friend Peggy Ehrhart, author of the blues mystery,
Sweet Man is Gone. Peggy and I will be doing an event together at the Monmouth County library on April 24. People like Robert Haller, an earnest young man (I really shouldn't describe him that way because if my math is correct he's 52, but still he struck me as an earnest young man), writing books about his 18 years in the navy -
Life of a Bluenose and
Adventures of a Cold War Veteran. Keep writing Robert. I'll see you in the fall in Collingswood. People like Ethel J. David, who invited me to her 94th birthday party, billed as a "Book and Beer Bash" to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Ethel is the author of
My Lover the Rabbi, My Husband the Doctor - What More Could a Jewish Girl Want? (And really, could a book have a better title than that?)
My thanks to Nina Flemming from the Margaret Heggan Library, who was my contact for the event, and to all of the librarians from the Monroe Township Library, who hosted the event. It was a great example of what National Library Week is all about. "Communities thrive @ your library."
On Sunday, I'll be at the Philadelphia Book Festival (the Free Library Festival). Fun.
Comments (8)
Chris is a hoot! I've never been at a booksigning with her and hopefully, one day, we'll do that. But I've known her for a while--we met at LBF Books when we were both with that publisher. She gets on my nerves on occasion and I know I get on hers quite a bit but she's been a wonderful source of information to me. I enjoy our friendship and admire her talent a great deal.
Hmmm...I gotta start getting out to these things. That's a blog topic I'd like to see you visit--or revisit--how do you find these things? How do you get invited to be there? How does one get started and what are some tips on a successful booksigning at events like this?
That is an awesome title for a book. I can't wait for Collingswood-I have to start saving some $$$ for that! I wish I could've been there last night.
Wonderful! And three cheers for fantastic libraries!
I LOVE these kinds of events. Now that I've moved, I've got a whole new set of libraries to check out.
One is always gratified by the support from their area libraries. Better yet, when the public actually shows up.
How fun!
It really looks like you had a lot of fun :)
Sounds like such a great time. I wish Dallas or Tarrant County Library would hold such an event.
~~Cheers