Hurray for Water Street Books!

This weekend was quite exciting. I had my first book signing for Little Joe at Water Street Books in Exeter. Rich, my husband, was right along with me, signing his KICKERS soccer series and hand-selling Little Joe, too. The blue ribbon bookmark giveaways and soccer bracelets were a big hit. Young Owen put his on right away! And I don't think anyone minded getting sticky fingers from the apple tarts-- they were too yummy to resist.

Much thanks to Stefanie Kiper (with me in the pix) and owner Dan Chartrand for organizing the event. Water Street is the largest bookstore along the seacoast of New England and they are well stocked, super-helpful and supportive of new and local authors. It's a beautiful store, as is Exeter, New Hampshire, which truly is a picturesque New England town with great architecture and cuisine.

I especially enjoyed meeting young Julia from Rochester, who told me about her 6 tabbies--all marmalade! I hope she enjoys reading about Spider, the mackarel-striped barn cat who befriends Little Joe and becomes his stall-mate.

A blue ribbon for Water Street Bookstore!

Little Joe Book Signing at Water Street Books

The first book signing for Little Joe is this Saturday, August 28th, 11 am at Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, New Hampshire. I'll be signing along with my hubbie, Rich Wallace, author of the soccer series KICKERS among many other books for young readers with Knopf and Viking.

Come join us and have a chat. Maybe even purchase a book. There'll be apples and apple tarts and giveaways after our presentation. Maybe I'll get you to take a picture of me alongside my novel- the first time I'll be seeing it on a bookshelf!!

Should be fun. See you there!

Sandra

Out Pops Little Joe- Or So I Think

This week Little Joe launched in bookstores. I was so excited I couldn’t sleep the night before. When I got up earlier than the dawn, somehow I’d expected things would feel different-- that the world might rumble-- at least for a second or two. But our dog, Lucy, was fast asleep hogging all the covers and my husband Rich kept snoring.

Having a book published and seen on the shelf in bookstores is a surreal experience, I’m told. I know when I first got a bound copy of Little Joe it became real for me-- now I couldn’t wait to find out what feelings would overtake me upon seeing it on a store bookshelf. But when I got to our local bookstore in the morning, they hadn’t had time to put the book out yet. My monumental citing would have to wait. At least I could email all my friends to let them know. When I get home, our neighbor girl, Emily-- the only female kid on the block-- comes racing up to see as me fast as she can on a bright pink bike. She remembered! I think, while six-year-old Emily skids next to me.

“I got a new pink bike,” she says. “I’m gonna ride it up and down the street all day.”

Then the boy kids come out and show me their painted faces, already practicing their ghoulish looks for Halloween. Avery, the four-year-old, keeps drooling. He points to his cheek and shows me the inside of his mouth. “Gum!” he says. Then he closes his teeth and smiles.

“He’s learning how to chew gum,” his brother Jake says to me. “That’s why he’s got slobber all over.”

“Little Joe’s out in bookstores!” I tell them, wishing I could point to the book, lying on a shelf. It comes out loud and forceful, but I don’t care. I imagine the novel showcased, surrounded by rave reviews and plucked from the shelves by the hands of eager readers. A bestseller, no less. And it’s not even been out a week.

“Finally,” Dennis moans, rolling his eyes and shaking me out of my dream-state. “It’s taken forever!”

Sometimes it seems that way. But when I go to my first signing this weekend and see that book on the shelf, I know it will have been worth the wait. Maybe you’ll be there; Water Street Books, Exeter, New Hampshire, August 28th at 11 AM. If so, you can join in my delight and maybe buy a copy of the book, too.