Still paddling

So I inadvertently stumbled on a brilliant marketing plan to get people to book signings. It's pretty simple if you don't mind the total loss of your dignity: have a very public breakdown immediately before a big signing. Then everyone you know will come, just to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't lose your . . . ahem, JUNK.


I won't be repeating this particular feat in the future, but as it turns out, the signing I did this past Thursday in Utah was superfantastic. There just isn't a less cheesy word for it. My camera died after the second picture I took and my sister is holding the ones in her camera hostage, but let me sum up:


SUPERFANTASTIC.


It was busy the whole night. I saw writer friends, and childhood friends, and long ago job friends, and blogger friends, and college friends, and friends of my parents, and IT WAS AWESOME.

This is me with Sarah. We've been best friends since we were nineteen and bonded over our mutual love of Audrey Hepburn.

Sarah Eden and Josi Kilpack are really fun to sign with, in case you were wondering. And DeNae came early, brought bottled water, monitored the refreshment table, left late and I didn't even ask her to. She's just made of glitter and fabulousness and it was all knit together with the sure knowledge that she had to keep an eye on me in case I fell apart.


But I didn't! Because DeNae was there. As were SO many of you: Wonder Woman and Vivian (delightful to meet you in real life finally!), Stephanie from Diapers and Divinity, my former editor, my blog friends Kazzy, Becca, and Crash who have become the dearest of friends well outside of blogging. Writer friends I won't claim because they could have just as easily been coming to see Sarah or Josi, but it was really fun to see Julie and Heather and Annette there.

Then the next day I had a lunch with some truly spectacular women:

And I found a lot of peace in this less-than-two-day trip.


There are times I've wondered if writing makes sense for me to do. It's that pragmatic part of me that worries about stuff like whether writing time would be better spent doing other things. But I've come to the very distinct conclusion this past week that writing is what I should most definitely be doing. I'll tell you a couple of stories about why soon, but in the mean time, if you want to hear what a couple of more people thought about my book, you can check out Kazzy's review here and Chantele's review here.


And I'm still trying to figure out how I want to do the next giveaway of my book, so once I've figured it out, I'll let you know. I know I should be a little more on top of my game with that, but to be honest, I kind of cut back on worrying about stuff like that this week in the interest of enjoying my life.


Guess what? It worked.