First times are magical.

And this one was a biggie.

Guess where we were the other day, me and my sister and co-author. Just guess. 

You'll never guess so I'll just tell you.

We were selling our books! Printed books. Real books, with covers front and back, and an author picture, and lovely cream paper. Pages that you can fan and smell, which speaking only for myself I have done repeatedly.



Squee!!  Here we are selling honest to goodness books!

In Print hosted a book fair at the Mendelssohn in Rockford on October 25 (which, by the way, was yours truly's birthday, which is why I have a birthday badge on my boob). It was the first time that Jen and I had been able to set up shop with physical books that we could sign and sell.

There were over 30 authors attending that day, and we were right in the thick of it.

We were ready.

It was a very long-awaited, exciting day. Jen, at one point, said that I was so animated that she was just "the string to my balloon." Yes. That pretty much summed it up. 

Can you blame me? It was my birthday. I was selling books with my sister. We had a cool looking, witchy banner. We had (thanks to my media specialist sister) book stands. We had oversized post cards with the names of our books, as well as a description and QR code to scan on your phone. We had business cards and special book signing pens, thanks to Kelly Epperson. We had a beautiful tablecloth that matched the colors of our book covers.

Bull Garlington wandered over and told us how interesting our cover was for Cat, Charmed. (another squee in order here, since he's such a cool dude.)

We also had a Halloween candy dish full of chocolate. That was magical too, in that it kept disappearing.

We had two Whitfield Witch mug giveaways; people who signed up for our fledgling newsletter with their email address had a chance at winning. Winners were Sharon Boehlefeld and Margie Seger (congratulations!) and we also have a great start for an email list.

My son and husband volunteered all day long. My daughter filled in as booth babe for "Birth That Book" Kelly Epperson, who had a prior commitment, and my other daughter and her fiancé came with my granddaughter, who posed for pictures and got to visit and color in the Kids' Zone.



Can I color in this one, Grandma?
No. No, darling, you cannot.
 

We sold a respectable amount of books. We met some cool local and cool not so local authors. We signed, and chatted, and nibbled on Halloween candy and in general, had a spectacular day.

By the time the last table was folded up, we were so exhausted that we headed home for sweatpants and my kids all came over for pizza. And later, there was a whiskey on the rocks.

We know what to expect now for the next one, and we're ready for that one, too, books in hand.

Free for the weekend, Baylyn, Bewitched!!

Hello delightful readers!!

Guess what.  This weekend through Sunday night, Baylyn, Bewitched is free on Amazon.com and Smashwords!  Not only THAT, Cat, Charmed is also 99 cents everywhere.  Continue reading for a little snippet from Baylyn, Bewitched:

“Baylyn, you have to sit down if you want me to put your hair up.”  Cat drawled as she reached a little unsteadily for her wine glass.

Baylyn grabbed the magazine picture featuring her choice and sat down on the chair in her bedroom.  “I wish I had time to get my nails done too.”

“Don’t worry about it.  Your last polish color was too red anyway.  What was that called, Summer Slut?  It’s probably a good thing you didn’t have time.”

Baylyn laughed.  “You are such a bitch.  It was called Poppy Daydreams.  And look who’s talking…you with your Smothered Evening eye shadow.”

Cat paused in her deft movements to tug Baylyn’s hair a little.  “Probably not a good idea to insult me right now.”

“Fine.”  Baylyn grumbled.  “You look wonderful, by the way.”  Cat was wearing a dress a little outside of her comfort zone.  She of dark clothes and straight hair and sensible shoes was actually wearing a fitted royal blue dress and low heels.   

“It’s a pick me up.  Things kind of fizzled out with the paranormal guy.”

“Ah.  His loss, Cat.”

“Whatever.  Not worth talking about.  What are you wearing tonight?”

Cat finished Baylyn’s simple yet elegant hairstyle.  They had decided on a slight pouf with a casual braid around it, and the final result was chic and classy.

“I thought I’d wear that black dress I wore to that thing a couple months ago.”

“Come on, Baylyn.  You can do better than that.  Go for the glamour, girl!  Half the town’s going to be at the Whitfield Gala.  You know all the women love to dress up and show off.”

“Declan’s probably not even going to be there, Cat.  And seriously, it’s the Whitfield Gala.  The most exciting thing that happens every year is that Bob Tucker from Tucker Travel gets drunk and tries to hit on Margaret from Sahara Desserts but she’s too busy pouting over not winning a door prize to notice.”

 

Baylyn, Bewitched excerpt

Below follows an excerpt from Baylyn, Bewitched...the first book in the Whitfield Witch series.

The conversational tone he used belied his words.  “I couldn’t stay away.  I tried.  I turned off the radio so I wouldn’t be disturbed by songs that made me think of you.  I forced myself to work on dry, boring contracts.  I did sit ups.  I did pushups.  But Baylyn…” He let go of the chair.  “I couldn’t get you out of my head.” 

He advanced toward her.  “I kept hearing your voice.  Your voice, saying my name.”  He took another step, catlike, stalking her.  “Over, and over, and over.  Softly.  Declan.  Declan.” 

Her mouth went completely dry and the thudding in her chest sped up to complement the roaring in her ears. 

“As a matter of fact, I could feel you, calling to me.  Beckoning me.  Drawing me here.  Well, I listened, Baylyn.  I’m here.  I had to come.  What, exactly, do you want with me?”

Halloween can't come fast enough for this gal.