Come to the AJC Decatur Book Festival Labor Day Weekend!

If you are in the Atlanta, GA area, come visit me at the Emerging Writers' Pavilion on Sept. 1st! This is one of the largest literary festivals on the East Coast, and they have books galore!

"The Saintly Stew" in the Georgia Museum of Art's Kress Project Anthology

Last year, I was honored to have one of my short stories (paired with a related recipe) selected as a winner in the Georgia Museum of Art's Kress Project, for which it and 24 other winners were published in a museum anthology that has finally been released this month. It's a wonderful collection of artwork, stories, and media the pay homage to the Italian Renaisaance paintings donated by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation to the GMOA.
So for a little more fantasy reading, you can find the story at the link here:

http://georgiamuseum.org/kressproject/view-entry/the-saintly-stew

Enjoy this, as well as all the other amazing entries in the Kress Project anthology!

Photos from the Suburban Life

Here are some pictures from the Suburban Life newspaper in Riverside, IL, from my book signing back on July 2nd. And now I know why I write and why I don't model or act...being photogenic is apparently not one of my talents. But that adorable little blonde girl in one of the pictures worked with my mother in a stage production of "Sound of Music." She had awesome questions!

http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/2013/07/03/local-author-showcases-her-book/dz5bj6o/?view=all

A Big Thanks to Everyone who came out to the Official Book Launch!

The Official Book Launch for "The Scholar, the Sphinx and the Shades of Nyx" took place at the Riverside Public Library in Illinois last night on July 2nd at 7:00pm.
The whole night was incredible! There were about 65 attendees and not only did we run out of the library's order of books, but exhausted my extra stock as well. After the book signing, there was a short gathering at the Reeger homestead with refreshments, and everyone seemed to have a great time.
Thank you, thank you, thank you a thousand times to everyone who came out to the event in support of the book. Riverside is full of amazing people and it was such a thrill to be back among childhood friends and neighbors. If you ever visit Riverside, please stop by and support the library as it truly is a magical place.

Note: The lady on the right with the navy blue jacket is my childhood piano teacher, Mrs. Kretz...she was teaching me piano when I was five years old!

A balcony view of the event. Isn't this library beautiful?

The Johnsons (my brother's parents-in-law) drop by for a quick hello and book signing

My brother Adam and his wife Jen

Chicago actor Doug Pawlik and the amazing Maggie Sikora Boorzanes

Childhood friend of over 20 years Christina Kowaleski

Librarian Dorothy Sikora (who arranged the whole event, thank you!), Chicago actress Jamie Gangi, and her husband Carrey

The Scholar and the Sphinx at Books-a-Million

Well, it was a quiet event, but the book signing at the Books-a-Million in Gainesville went well. My parents-in-law, Chuck and Patricia Cook, dropped by and we had a very nice get-together (which we haven't had for a while).
We also had two winners in the book raffle, Ms. Aisha Khan (a very lovely young lady) and Ms. Kathy Mellette (a middle grade teacher from Gainesville who was quite pleasant to talk to).

Next event: The Official Book Launch Event (yes, I know it's weird to have the "official" one after this past book signing)
July 2nd, 2013 at 7:00pm
Riverside Public Library in Riverside, Illinois

Also, if you happen to be going to the American Library Association conference this upcoming June 27th-July 1st at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois, stop by the Peachtree Publishers' booth #2527. We'll have lots of great children's picture books, as well as early chapter and middle reader books!
For more information about the conference, check out: http://ala13.ala.org/

Upcoming Events for "The Scholar, the Sphinx and the Shades of Nyx"

June 22nd 2013

Mini-Book Signing (Pre-Book Launch) Event
Books-a-Million Store at the Lakeshore Mall
150 Pearl Nix Pkwy.
Gainesville, GA 30501
Time: 4:00pm-7:00pm
Call 770-503-7732 for more information

The author will be raffling off a free copy or two of the book, so come on by the store and enter to win!


July 2nd 2013

Official (2nd Time's a Charm) Book Launch Event
Riverside Public Library
1 Burling Rd.
Riverside, IL 60546
Time: 5:00pm-8:00pm
Call (708) 442-6366 for more information

Books will be available through the library for $15. All proceeds go to the Friends of the Library fundraiser. Come out an support a worthy cause while also getting a signed copy of the novel, and stay for a short excerpt reading and question-and-answer time with the author.

The Book is Born! and the Follow Up of the Promotional Launch

You never understand how surreal it all feels until you are holding the actual item in your hands...

So after the slight hiccup of the printer not having the books printed in time for the original release, they played catch-up pretty quickly and are back on track with getting orders shipped out.
Sadly, that meant the book launch scheduled on May 18th wasn't really so much a "book" launch as it was a promotional launch. But it was still a good day--got to see and have dinner with my Aunt Audrey and Uncle Bill, and my cousin's wife Erin and their beautiful daughter Margot (my first time meeting her). My husband's family stopped by to root me on, a few of my fellow Books-a-Million pals dropped in, and even a fellow fantasy writer, Jonathan French (author of "The Exiled Heir," the first book in the Autumn's Fall Saga) and his wife Liza and their handsome little guy paid us a visit. And we passed out quite a few bookmarks and promo guides, so the word was spread.

My hubby David, Me, little Margot, Aunt Audrey and Uncle Bill

Fellow Bibliophiles Heather and Jenn

Jonathan French (here's a link to a review of "The Exiled Heir": http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/archives/80674/)