A day with Leigh Duncan

This is a picture of the fabulous Leigh Duncan and myself at our book signing at Books-A-Million this past Saturday. Leigh's family was so supportive! She sold out of books, and I didn't do so bad either.

For those of you who might have seen some strange thing (ahem) on my website this past weekend, I'm sure you are probably aware that it certainly wasn't me calling myself names on my own website. I was hacked. Everywhere. All my email accounts, my website, my Facebook, everything. It was my own fault. I was extremely lax with my passwords and internet security. It's taken me days (and endless nights) to fix the problem, but fixed it is and hopefully won't happen again. Thank you to all my friends who called, texted me, etc... to tell me what was happening. At the time I was in Melbourne with my parents and had no internet access, which made the whole thing more frustrating. But enough of that.

I came home late Friday night and woke up early Saturday morning to have breakfast with Leigh and her sister at the Broken Egg. Yum. After that we headed to the Florida Panhandle Romance Writers meeting where Leigh did a great workshop on Deep Dish Critique. A few months ago I joined the STAR (Space Coast Authors of Romance) chapter and was so impressed with them. I asked Leigh to come and explain their method for group critique and she graciously accepted. I really think it's going to do great things for our little capital chapter and am really excited to get going on that.

Thanks, Leigh!

Book signing!

I'm off to visit my parents for a couple of days, then it's back to Tally for the weekend. This Saturday, June 18, my fabulous friend and fellow author, Leigh Duncan will be doing a one hour work shop at the Florida Panhandle Romance Writers of America meeting. The presentation will be on "Deep Dish Critique" and will start at ten am. We meet at Julie's Restaurant on Monroe street, so if you live in the north Florida area and thinking of joining the chapter, please stop by!

Later, Leigh and I will head off to Books-A-Million on Thomasville Rd to sign books from 12 noon-2 pm. Leigh will be signing her newest release, The Daddy Catch, and I'll be signing The Boyfriend of the Month Club (and anything else you'd like me to sign!)

Book signing in Thomasville

Tomorrow I'll be in nearby Thomasville, Georgia (nearby to me, that is!) signing copies of my latest release Bunco Babes Gone Wild. The Book Shelf is an independent book store located in the middle of historic downtown. If you're in the area, stop by!

Melbourne Barnes and Noble is the best!

Pardon the glare but this is the best pic of the bunch. Last month, I went back to my hometown of Melbourne and did a book signing at Barnes & Noble. Kaori (the community rep for the store) did a fabulous job of setting the whole thing up. She and Kandy (another B&N employee) were simply awesome.

Imagine my surprise when I got this wonderful commemorative frame of the event in the mail this week. I know it's probably too small to see, but the top pic is of me, Kaori and Kandy, and the bottom pic shows me signing books. I love the whole scrap booking feel of it, which actually matches my website design perfectly!

The Cubans hit Barnes & Noble

Ever see that old movie "The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming"? (Probably not. I've never seen it either, but I love the title). Well, just sub in "Cubans" for "Russians" and you'll get an idea of what my B&N book signing was like. It was awesome. There's nothing like a signing in your home town to make you feel special! Add in some friends from high school and grade school who also showed up, and I can still feel the lump in my throat.

One of the best parts of the book signing was meeting a local Bunco group who showed up to buy some books before they went out for dinner and socializing. A lot of the ladies in the group have kids who attend Melbourne Central Catholic (my alma mater) and one lady told me her daughter was a Stinger (dance and drill team). Talk about bringing back memories. You see, I too, was a Stinger (ahem, make that an ORIGINAL Stinger as well as a Stinger Forever-- blog for another day!) I really hope they contact me so I can feature them on my "Let's Play Bunco!" page. I was so overwhelmed by all the people I forgot to get a contact name. I really have to be more organized.

After the book signing, I attended the Romance Book Club that Lee Duncan hosts. Lee is a member of STAR and has just sold her first book Romancing the Storm to Harlequin. What a great coup! The fabulous Kristen Painter was also there and a good time was had by all.

Oh, and one of the best parts? I sold out of books!

Sold Out!

This past Saturday, I had my first "official" book signing at my neighborhood Books A Million. When I'd gone in last week to solidify details with Cliff, the store manager, he showed me all the books they'd ordered. There were two near waist high stacks of my books along the aisles. When my eyes widened, Cliff added, "I have more boxes in the back." I have to admit, I gulped. How was I going to sell all those books?

I'll tell you how. By having the best group of friends any girl could dream of. I sold out of books! Plus, took orders for 20 more. Cliff says that my book had been selling well all week (and of course there's all those books that my Bunco Broads bought) but still. I was overwhelmed.

I want to thank all those customers who I didn't know who stopped and bought books. Lucky for me, my signing was the day before Mother's Day. Talk about perfect timing (in case you weren't aware, Bunco Babes Tell All makes the perfect Mothers Day gift!) I also want to thank Brittany, the really cute and bubbly BAM employee who stood in the front of the store handing out coupons and welcoming customers. After she finished her welcome speech, she'd point over to me and pimp my author signing.

I also want to thank the fellow members of my local RWA chapter, Florida Panhandle Romance Writers for coming out. Our chapter was born last September, but we are already growing strong. And of course, I have to give a really special thanks to those people who came from out of town- my parents, my sister and her family and my RWA Online friend, Jamie Farrell, who surprised me by driving 2 hours to come! Jamie got to meet fellow members of FPHRW and she's joining the group. Yay!

The day was topped off with a celebration party across the street at Po Boys. Of which, can you can believe, I have NO pictures. By then I was so tired (all that adrenaline rush coming down) that I didn't think of it. But it was awesome. Just like the entire day was.

Birthday Bunco Book Beach Bash!

Birthday Bunco Book Beach Bash..
I dare you say that fast 3 times in a row.

Yeah, I'm not even going there.

Last night, my Bunco group, the fabulous Bunco Broads of Tallahassee threw me a private book signing! It was our regular Bunco night plus Melissa's birthday, so we celebrated everything up in grand style. Isn't my cake gorgeous? Melissa hosted the soiree and I have to say, it was one of our finest Bunco moments ever. I felt like a rock star!