Despite what felt like an inordinate amount of rain this May, I refused to be kept indoors!
Baby, it's cold outside. What better way to stay warm and walk off all those Thanksgiving calories than going to the mall? OK, now scratch out "mall" and replace it with "local indie bookstore" because this weekend it's Small Business Saturday AND Indies First. (Insert squeal of joy.)
It started in early fall 2001, on September 8, just before the numbers 9-11 would become burned into US history. But on that sunny Saturday, tragedy had not yet struck and the bookish excitement of the very first National Book Festival swallowed up the Library of Congress and stretched out onto the National Mall.
I usually pass right through Baltimore on my way to New York and don't stop. But I'm headed to Baltimore this weekend for a concert and decided to check out what bookish things I might be able to find there. I didn't expect much. I should have.
Author panels are meant for the audience to learn about authors and their books. But, the authors themselves can learn a few things too, like what they have in common.
Bookstore author events might be the best activity you're not doing. For a fun Friday five, here are 5 reasons you should go to more author events.
Friend and fellow writer, of the byLisaTully blog, shared the story behind the author panel she'll be moderating this weekend for me and another fellow author in the Northern Virginia (NOVA)/Washington, DC area. This isn't just another promotion for our books. This author panel was the result of a strange occurrence involving stolen books.
First things first, if your very kind friend offers to throw you an amazing book signing party for your debut YA fantasy novel, The Travelers, and invites a bunch of local friends, their young adult kids (eg, your audience), and several local librarians, here are things you should NOT do. (Yes, I moronically did all these things!)
Staunton buzzed with red-cheeked people enjoying the crisp autumn air. It’s a place where everyone smiles, the buildings drip with history on the outside and sing with the unique artisanship on the inside. It’s the kind of place where you want to take pictures of all the doors with their layers of chipped paint and old brass doorknobs (which I did) and make one of those Door of posters (stay tuned).
K.L. Kranes 