Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Meet the Faces Behind the Books

Last Sunday, April 17th, I participated in Englewood Library's annual "Meet the Faces Behind the Books" event. About sixty Colorado authors descended on the library to talk to patrons about their books, which covered the complete gamut from fiction to nonfiction, children's to adult. A hoard of library staff and volunteers worked behind and in front of the scenes to make the event a success, and I want to shout out a big thank-you to all of them, but especially to the Event Coordinator, Deb Parker.

After an entertaining carpool ride from Colorado Springs to Englewood with Cicily Janus, author of The New Face of Jazz, we checked in at the library at 11:30 AM. The next half hour was spent filling out paperwork, consigning extra books into the bookstore, setting up our table displays, and exchanging "how-do's" with fellow authors. Some of those whom I already knew I hadn't seen in months and others I'd just seen two weeks ago at the Pikes Peak Library District's "Mountain of Authors" program.

I managed to get two photos (see below). The first is of me with Carolyn Jennings, author of Hunger Speaks, Deb Parker, and Jeanne Stein, author of the Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles. The second is of me with Deborah Coonts, author of Lucky Stiff, and Cicily Janus.



At noon, the authors, volunteers, and staff were invited to a sumptuous reception, which is shown in the photo below. As we snacked on the goodies, the library staff welcomed us and thanked the authors for coming. Then all of the authors took a turn stating their name and what they write.


At one, the doors opened to the public, and I was too busy to take any more photos until the event came to an end at three. I handed out lots of postcards and chatted with many mystery readers. I even signed a few books! I was glad I brought consignment copies because the store sold out of theirs and needed to dip into my stash. After the ride home with Cicily, I plopped into my easy chair and fell asleep halfway through the Sunday crossword puzzle.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Beth,

Thank you for being with us and adding to our special day. It was wondersful to see so many readers connecting with authors! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Beth Groundwater said...

No, thank YOU, Deb, for all your hard work in putting together such a successful event. :)