Saturday, May 20th was an exciting day for me. On Friday, Dru Ann of Dru’s Book Musings was given the approval by my publisher to do my cover reveal. YAY! She normally only does them on Sundays but she didn’t want to wait and the author she had scheduled was gracious enough to let me share the day with her. Seriously, I cannot say enough good things about Karin Salvalaggio’s talent and kindness.
It was a great day if a little fraught at the beginning. Dru Ann was given permission to release after 8:00am so we had set the posts to go at 8:10am. Except Dru Ann and I are on the east coast and my publisher, Midnight Ink, is in Minneapolis … on central time. Which 8:00am? We erred on the side of keeping the goodwill of the publisher (who are all so amazing and I know they wouldn’t be upset over an honest error but still) and reset our posts for 9:10am. Except my computer was doing a Windows update and FB wouldn’t let me edit the post on my phone. Needless to say, it all went really well and everyone was really complimentary.
Many friends shared the link to Dru Ann’s blog for me and I got a lot of eyeballs on it. It’s gorgeous, yes? Please give Super Editor and Amazing Designer a virtual high-five.
In a fortuitous turn, I had created my author Facebook page a few days before and got some lovely exposure from LynDee Walker. She shared the link to my page and ran a giveaway that netted me over 100 followers in a single 24 hours. She, too, is a very kind and talented person. If success is being surrounded by great people then I'm already exceedingly successful.
I also updated the website with the front cover art and back cover copy. Writing the back cover copy was pretty stressful. I had only 130 words to "entice people to crack the spine but don't give anything away." I think I did a pretty good job. Super Editor made it better, of course, but 95% of what's there is what I sent her. Not bad for my first time. I also added the Soundtrack for the book. These are the songs I listened to while writing and editing. Those songs are the musical heart of Willa's story.
The last weekend in April I spent a fantastic four days in Bethesda for the annual Malice Domestic fan convention. This amazing, all volunteer-run event is full of panels on just about any topic you can imagine (I moderated a panel of talented writers whose books are devoted to crafts and killing, not necessarily in that order), book signings, and opportunities to meet and greet big names in the mystery community (Charlaine Harris, this year’s guest of honor, ring a bell?). The best part is getting to hang out with friends I only see once or twice a year. I’m very fortunate that there is a healthy, close-knit writing community here but I do love getting to see friends who live in other parts of the country and world.
I hope to have some fun things to share and giveaway in the coming months so keep your eyes on Facebook.