Seven Events in Eleven Days!

The end of June marks the end of my big promotion push during the first three months after the release of A REAL BASKET CASE in late March. After that, I will be involved in one to four promotion events per month versus per week. So, I wanted to end the month with a bang! During July, I'll be vacationing with my family, so be forewarned--I won't be blogging much.

My seven events in the last eleven days of June started with a panel appearance at the Louisville, CO library on the evening of Wednesday, June 20th. I and three other mystery authors talked about our books, characters, careers, and writing styles, then chatted with the patrons and signed books. On Friday, I had a lovely visit with the Teen Writing Group at the Rockrimmon branch of the Pikes Peak Library to teach them how to write query letters. I sat in on their critique group afterward and was impressed by the talent exhibited by these young writers.

Saturday, June 23rd, I had back-to-back signings at Murder By the Book in South Denver and the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Highlands Ranch. The first event was a proxy signing for Elaine Viets, a mystery writer who is recovering from a stroke. Since as a result, Elaine was unable to tour for her new release, panels of mystery authors around the country are promoting her books as well as our own. This is a great example of the camaraderie of the mystery-writing community! The second event was four of the "Five Stars from Five Star" discussing and signing our mystery and romance books.

On Sunday, I served on a promotion panel with Lise Fuller and Karin Huxman for the local chapter of RWA called Pikes Peak Romance Writers. We had a tough time cramming in a discussion in one hour of all the ways authors can promote themselves these days on-line, in traditional media, and in person at conferences, signings/readings, book clubs, and library events.

Thursday, the 28th, I had a signing on the covered porch of Hamlet's Bookshoppe in Breckenridge, CO. A brief thundershower with high winds played havoc with the books and fliers on my table during part of the event, but being outside where I could greet the tourists strolling by on the sidewalk was where I needed to be. Then last night, I finished off the month with a signing at Poor Richard's Bookstore in downtown Colorado Springs. Of course, I couldn't resist buying a few books of my own there. They are a great source for used short story collections, which I love.