Unusual Book Launch Day
July 30, 2023, I am exhausted, and I did it to myself. On second thought I had helpers, one was mother nature who sent a week of heat and humidity that can drain the strongest. My other helper was a tick, I am on medication for a tick-borne disease like Lyme.
That diagnosis compounded my week of preparation for the launch of my new novel Christmas Letters.
(paperback at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CCCMPC7W ) also available in eBook and hardcover
I had a vision of what the book launch would be like. In my head, I was planning what to say, whom to thank, and points of interest in the book. I had a couple of activities planned during the afternoon. My venue was perfect, The Vineyard at Hillyland, was serene, and fit my story well. www.thevineyardathillyland.com
July 29, 2023, I drag myself to load my truck and head to the Vineyard. The heat is sapping my energy I felt like a cartoon character in slow motion. I begin the setup process and keep thinking I need to sit for a minute, but I am behind schedule there are no minutes left. The cavalry came riding in, what I mean is a cadre of friends showed up and got to work helping me.
How it really went: We weren’t five minutes into my planned program, reading and having my guest that wrote the book forward Rob Simmons Col. USAR Retired speak. Phones began warning of severe weather. Thunder rumbled in the distance and with each rumble, it came closer. When I heard the rumble my mind was busy deleting things I had planned to say. We hurried through the program and thank you’s. I hate to hurry a moment of gratitude to my team, they are such a huge part of the work it takes to publish a novel and launch it. We finished up and let me say thanks to Seth Kalichman, a good roadie, for quickly putting my amp, mic and cords away in my truck.
Under my canopy people lined up to get their signed copy. Thanks to Moira Kalichman for stepping in as cashier as we hurried to beat the storm. The storm was getting closer. I commented as soon as the rain is coming the books need to be rushed into the wine-tasting room and the tent dropped. Moments later that happened. Everyone pitched in and put all my things away or inside and there I finally found a seat to sign books and talk to the last few who did not scurry away in fear of the storm. Moira is an avid baked and made the baked goods I gifted at the celebration.
I packed up the last in my truck with help from Doug Stearns at the Vineyard. At 5 p.m. and headed home collecting roadside signs I had put out along the way. The flu-like symptoms of Lyme were making me ache. I had to get a few things into the house when home, the rest would wait.
Once home I took a few things inside. Roadside signs leaned against the garden fence. I could see a torrential rain had passed through while I was gone, had I left windows open? A little while later my phone buzzed loudly, TORNADO ALERT for my area. No kidding, Connecticut rarely gets a tornado and it’s in my area? I go out on our porch and secure some of the furniture. The sky is black and formidable. I take the roadside signs to a shed they could easily go airborne and hurt something. I close the barn door on the north side as the storm is coming from that direction. I go back in the house and shut the windows. All this in minutes with my tired body in overdrive. Then we wait and listen, I peek out frequently toward the barn worrying about the horses. The power flickers and the storm rages. I open the cellar door, one sound of impending doom and we are heading down there!
The storm passed quickly. It did touch down just a few short miles from my home. Drone photography shows what a demon in the sky it was. We were lucky!!!!
My book is launched! I am incredibly happy! Sunday became a quiet day. I practiced a little self-care and hired my young friend Dale Thompson to do morning barn chores for me.
