In the words of the old-school, Canadian band, Crowbar – Oh what a feeling, what a rush!

Last week I had my official (ad in the local paper and all that jazz) book launch and my first public reading of Disappearing in Plain Sight. The event was held at our local library.

I live in a rural area, so this wasn’t a book launch/reading a la downtown Toronto or New York at a Chapters or Barnes and Noble. Think of this event as small, intimate, friendly and you’ll be most of the way to getting a feel for the evening.

Think exciting and fun.

I got introduced like a real celebrity and presented with a beautiful Vancouver Island Regional Library coffee mug. My first official author swag. The librarian reminded people of my many years of residency on the North Island and my work as an educator and counsellor. She read excerpts from my Amazon reviews. Are you with me on how cool this was?

Then I did four readings from the book with the help of my husband, Bruce and my long-time friend, Cheryl. I thought it might be good to have a few voices to change things up. Next time, I’ll do the readings on my own. Not because my assistants weren’t great – they were. It’s something about the way I hear the character’s voices in my own mind and have somehow decided that’s the only way they should sound.

After the readings, I did my best to answer some outstanding questions. I am amazed at the things people get from reading Disappearing in Plain Sight. I’ve written, on this blog, about interpretation being the work of the reader. It was an eye-opening experience to see that concept play out in real time. I was asked about the symbolism and meaning of names I had chosen for characters and places in the novel. We discussed people’s favourite characters. No one had actually finished the book, though some shared that they had skipped to the last page to see how it ended. That fired up a discussion about the type of person who would consider doing such a thing and the type who would not. Someone reflected that past life and work experiences had clearly influenced my writing, so did I think that writing might affect future work in counselling or education. Whew. If I knew the answer to that question, (re: future work) I’d rest easier at night. Another person was curious about self-publishing versus going the traditional publishing route.

The time flew by. Eventually, the gathering moved to a more relaxed level as Bruce handled the selling of books and I got to drink coffee, mingle, and sign books.

The night was a thrilling experience for me. Special because I got to show off to a hometown crowd. I want to send out a big thank you to all those attended, to Laura for hosting, and to the Vancouver Island Regional Library for offering local authors such a splendid venue to showcase their books. By the way, the library has ordered three copies of my book. How cool is that?

(Sun kissed tulip – taken yesterday out on our kitchen deck as the late afternoon sun washed over the flower bed.)