When I sent my fall schedule of book-related events around to my writers’ critique group, I got a message back from one member that startled me.
(This member wrote three novels while an active member of our group, but stopped coming several months ago. Reasons? That’s another blog.)
He wrote: “When I see this, I’m almost glad my books haven’t sold.”
That gave me something to think about. Was it, indeed, too much?
Here’s a partial schedule of recent August and future Sept. and Oct. events planned in celebration of the release of my latest novel, A FAIR TO DIE FOR. (The fair in question is a fall craft fair, so the timing is natural.)
Friday, August 17, Book signing, all day at T. Charleston’s in Branson, MO and same Saturday, August 18, at Ozarks Writers League, College of the Ozarks, Point Lookout, MO.
Saturday, August 25, Trolley Line Books during the Frisco Festival in Rogers, AR. Signing all day in the Trolley Line window.
Friday, Saturday and Monday, August 31-Sept. 3 Harps Food Market in Rogers, AR (The sanctuary store in A FAIR TO DIE FOR). All day.
Friday-Saturday, Sept. 7-8. Price Cutter Grocery, Rogers, AR. All day.
Sunday, September 16, Nightbird Books in Fayetteville, AR. Mini craft fair being held in the store in celebration of A FAIR TO DIE FOR. Book sales and chat. 1-4.
Saturday, September 29, War Eagle Mill at 1105 War Eagle Road off Highway 12, east of Rogers, AR. (Some of the action in A FAIR TO DIE FOR takes place in the Mill and surrounding area.) Schedule not complete yet.
Saturday, October 6, Signing at Steve’s Books and Magazines, 2613 S. Harvard, Tulsa, OK. 1-3 p.m.
Sunday, October 7, Fall Festival in Hobbs State Park, 20201 East Highway 12, east of Rogers, AR. Signing and reading a bit of the story set in this park. 1-4
Sunday, October 14, Rogers Public Library, Rogers, AR. Book signing, craft chat, and display of Radine’s hand-crafted doll house. 2-3.
Thursday, October 18 – Sunday, October 21. War Eagle Craft Fair, 11036 High Sky Inn Road, Hindsville, AR. All day book signing in a Fair staff booth.
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I admit the schedule does look full, and I am sure I will be grateful for “in between” times to catch up on work at home and in my office, but, when I read the e-mail quoted at the beginning of this I realized I was looking forward to all of these events.
How could that be, when I grew up a shy, introverted female who was almost physically ill when she had to get up and speak in class? Speak in public? EEEK, no way. And how could that be when my at home and office schedule was also jammed to the fourteen-hour work day limit? Well, let’s see . . . .
I began my writing career when I was certainly a mature adult, and it started almost entirely because I fell in love with the Arkansas Ozarks. I was born in a large city, and, except for a short time away at college, spent my entire life there. I married there, and my husband and I lived there happily for over 20 years. Then we began yearning for a life away from concrete and lined-up buildings. We searched for, and found our sanctuary in an Ozarks forest. Ten years after purchasing our land (in 1978) we moved there full-time, and became “poor hillbillies.” We loved it.
I wanted to share my place with others who would never see it, so I began writing about life there. My essays and articles telling about the people, animals, and events in and around Spring Hollow went out to the world, and, in a few cases, all around the world. Some of these became a book (DEAR EARTH, a Love Letter from Spring Hollow) and, eventually, a series of mystery novels set at wonderful Arkansas tourist destinations.
What I wrote about, I was willing to talk about. I also found I enjoyed talking about writing. So–because of Arkansas, because of Spring Hollow, and what followed, I will enjoy my fall schedule.
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