"Cousin Su's Book Club" Wilmington, DE -- These ladies were an inquisitive bunch. They asked some great, thoughtful questions about characters, theme, plot. Careful readers: an author's dream.
Westtown Friends School "Parent Book Club", Westtown, PA -- Another great group. They had a lot of questions about the publishing business and writing in general. (And they all wanted my St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake recipe!) ;-) Thanks to my friend Kathy of idesign (in the brown V-neck on the couch) for suggesting me as a guest author . . .
At The Big Read, in St. Louis. This day was a blast. I participated in a panel discussion (above) with fellow authors Tess Gerritsen, Emilie Richards, and Joanna Campbell Slan. Below: Afterwards, at the book-signing table.
Later, I sat in on an excellent workshop (about marketing your book) presented by Joanna and another St. Louis author, Angie Fox. But the highlight of the day? Dinner on the Hill with Joanna and Emilie at Trattoria Marcella, and then dessert at Ted Drewes. Here we are (below) at Ted Drewes with St. Louis sculptor extraordinaire, Tyrone De la Venta -- who looked like a friendly guy and so we asked him to take our picture. Little did we know we'd meet an artist with sculptures displayed throughout the city.
Above: New fans Candice McBain and Barb Cassens of Ballwin, MO came to hear me speak at the Kirkwood Public Library. (Thanks for taking a chance on me, Candice and Barb!) Below: Snacks and drinks with family and friends after the event. I think the Florida weather had followed me to Missouri.
Below: Here I am with Vicki Erwin (owner of Main Street Books in St. Charles, MO)(who treated me to a lovely dinner at the Mother-in-Law House Restaurant in St. Charles a few nights later) and Sarah Erwin (of the Kirkwood Public Library) (yes, they are related!)
On my last night in St. Louis, I spoke at the St. Charles Library. Below is the amazing sign that greeted me (Thanks Sara Nielsen and everyone there!):
If you look close on the left, you can see me next to the sign. ;-)
As if all this wasn't enough, I also did a few booksignings (but forgot to take pics): one during Educator Appreciation Weekend at the Borders in Sunset Hills, MO (thanks to Margaret Holden at Borders for inviting me), and another at the the Barnes & Noble in Exton, PA. I also spent a few days in Baltimore at Bouchercon (a huge mystery fan conference), where I met up with some of the fellow International Thriller Writers I'd met at Thrillerfest in July, like Julie Kramer (my roomie), Kelli Stanley, Andy Harp (thanks for a great lunch on the Harbor, Andy!), Hank Phillippi Ryan, and Sibylle Barrasso . I was also fortunate to meet Martin Edwards, a UK author who'd interviewed me long distance for Shots Magazine during the UK release of TELL NO LIES. Weaving through the crowds one day, I ran into fellow Central Florida (and St. Martin's) authors Bob Morris (whose latest book, A Deadly Silver Sea, is out later this month) and Tom Cavanagh. And I even got up the nerve to introduce myself to Harlan Coben . . . I hadn't needed to be nervous, though; he was an incredibly nice guy. All in all, it was quite a conference, and I didn't even experience the whole four days.
On second thought, it was quite a month. :-)
