Enjoying the ride

I've always enjoyed connecting with other writers, listening to their work, encouraging, sharing ideas and struggles. When I had my first magazine article published in Highlights High Five, several friends purchased copies and asked me to autograph my story. Ditto for my short piece in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Children with Special Needs - I gave signed copies to family and friends. But I had no idea how much fun it would be to sit at the "local authors" event at Barnes & Noble and have people ask me to sign copy of my book!

I shared the event with Wendy Tyson, author of two mystery novels which are both being serialized, and John Dziak who has edited and published the work of the late Dick Zborovian, capturing personal stories of miners' lives in Black Lung. Meeting them both was great - and they came with their own fan clubs which increased foot traffic for me too!

I had some amazing support. Long-time friends and neighbors Joanne and Tony Cantafio drove from Scranton for the event, just to be able to walk in the door and have me sign books they'd already purchased online. Gerri Misunas, a PT I worked with 30+ years ago, stopped in to buy an autographed book even though I haven't seen her in a decade. Nicole Decker, an old friend of my son's, drove over an hour to buy a book and have me sign it even though she works four miles from my house and could have stopped in there any time. Truly, I am blessed to have folks who care that much to go out of their way to offer support.

And get this - my fabulous book cover designed by Michael Rausch caught the eye of the cashiers at the front registers. Both of them came back and bought autographed copies of Risking Exposure for their own reading. I encouraged Michael to enter the cover design in a contest. It's that good, and he's that talented.

On Tuesday, I have the honor of attending a book club/dinner meeting with a group who read Risking Exposure as their October selection. I don't know what to expect. I'm just enjoying the ride.