In anticipation of my latest mystery, Murder on Sagebrush Lane, I scheduled a book signing at Treasure House Books & Gifts in Old Town, Albuquerque. For the past three years now I’ve been welcomed at Treasure House to sign copies of my first mystery, The Easter Egg Murder. With that title, and that particular holiday, it’s been a logical pairing. This year the focus was to be on the new book.Imagine my dismay when I discovered Sagebrush Lane would be delayed in shipping due to a couple of glitches along the way. Notice had already appeared in the Albuquerque Journal announcing the debut and signing of the new book. It was too late to rectify that, so now what? Well, the amazing John Hoffsis, owner and proprietor of Treasure House Books, just happened to have an available opening the Sunday after Easter, and he offered me the opportunity to do both days: Easter Egg on Easter Sunday, and Sagebrush Lane on the following Sunday. I readily agreed, of course. Now the story becomes populated with more incredible people.
I called on another friend, Jill Lane, who along with Dangerous Dan Goss has taken over the Saturday and Sunday morning radio show on 770 KKOB AM Radio, formerly the Terrie Q. Sayre Show. Terrie was a great friend of local authors (as well as the amateur radio community) and she graciously had me as a guest numerous times to promote my book signings. With her untimely death this past January, Jill Lane, of Travelin’ Jack and Jill fame, and Terrie’s long-time friend and fellow broadcaster, Dan Goss, were the obvious choices to step up and continue the good work Terrie had done on behalf of shelter animals needing adoption, and the occasional writer or other grateful soul who needed to publicize an event close to their heart. Jill Lane and Terrie Sayre had put together two books, Pet Friends, and More Pet Friends, with the help of Travelin’Jack (a dog author in his own right) and the publishers at Rio Grande Books, Barb Awalt and Paul Rhetts . In 2013, Pet Friends won the NM/AZ Book Award for the Pet/Animals category.
So, Jill gave me a time slot on the Saturday morning before Easter to be on the air and explain about the two separate signings, two weeks in a row. That done, we confidently proceeded with plans for Easter Sunday.
Although Easter Sunday turned out to be a low-traffic day on the Old Town Plaza, we still pulled in a bunch of people to Treasure House who purchased The Easter Egg Murder. My good friend, award-winning author Joseph Badal, has taken time from his holiday each Easter to come down to Treasure House to offer support during my signing. Others, who had been expecting to see the new book, agreed to return the following Sunday and get their copies.
And did they ever! Sunday, April 12, 2015 was a great day for book sales. We sold 30 copies—some of The Easter Egg Murder, but most of the people took that opportunity to snap up a copy of Murder on Sagebrush Lane. I felt like a celebrity and the people who stopped by, many of whom were buttonholed by my dear husband Don, walked in with a bookmark in their hands, wanting to see this amazing book the promoter outside had been telling them about.
Then yesterday, April 18, 2015, was the 9th Annual Authors for Literacy Event in Moriarty, NM. Moriarty is a great little town about 40 miles east of Albuquerque on I-40. The people there are friendly and eager to help their neighbors. The local library has made it their cause to help stamp out adult illiteracy in their county.
This annual event is a fund-raiser to that end, and a large number of authors and other artists from Albuquerque and surrounding areas rent tables and display their work. Here I am with my basket of Easter candy, and copies of both books. Again, I had a wonderful day selling books. By the time we went home at the end of the day, I had sold ten books (three of Easter Egg and seven of Sagebrush Lane.) I donated one copy of Sagebrush Lane, and they were really pleased to get it. They told me The Easter Egg Murder (which I donated last year) had been checked out ten times!
I love having the opportunity to go out, meet new and old friends alike, and talk about my books. I’ve found people are curious, and are waiting for you to give them an excuse to buy a book. I’m excited to tell them about the plot and characters, and when I see they’ve decided they are interested in them too, I’m delighted. I’m looking forward to two more events this coming Saturday and Sunday. Both of these are amateur radio (ham) activities, one in Albuquerque Saturday morning, and the other in Las Cruces, NM on Sunday morning. I’ll haul out my books, bookmarks, and even the Easter candy, and talk about mysteries, characters, and how much fun the reader will have figuring out the puzzle to be found in each book. What could possibly be more exciting for a writer than that?