Book people

The Bookish Frogs, a community support group for TCU Press, gathered for a pot-luck happy hour tonight, celebrating the Texas Small Book series. It's truly a joy to spend time with people who love books and love talking about them. We had amazing appetizers, mingled, signed a few books--some authors signed several--and had a good time. My longtime friend, Margie West, and her husband, Jack, hosted the event at their house, which was appropriate since Margie designs all the small books--and they are works of art. They sell for $9.95, a pick-up price, and are 4-1/2 x 6-1/2, 96 pages, on all kinds of Texas subjects. Newest in the series is Melinda's book, Texas Wineries, and she signed quite a few. I have contributed two to the series: Great Texas Chefs and Extraordinary Texas Women. My favorite appetizer? Either the spanakopita or the hard boiled tea eggs--they were so gorgeous!
Spent some of the day working on where to submit my mystery. I've decided to go ahead and try to market the first book in the proposed series. At lunch today, Fred convinced me (I was already leaning that way) that it was too good to put aside, so I've been researching agents to submit it to. Fred suggested I set my sights a little higher, and I think he's right. I tend to think publication with a major house is beyond my reach, but I have to remind myself I'm a good writer with several awards to my credit. I can outdo some of the published books I read--so my sights now are not on small publishers but on an agent. I have to rewrite my query, but having been to the party, had a bit more wine than usual, and eaten sporadically, I think I'll just go back to reading the manuscript that has been submitted to TCU Press.
I did take my car in today, and I think the service department is embarrassed that in ten months and countless trips they haven't been able to fix my convertible top. Today I had five men taking care of my needs, and the service manager offered me a loaner, something that's never happened with my years of VW service. The service assistant assigned to me has called three times, the last time to say they had to order a part. Maybe it will get fixed this time. Meanwhile I'm driving a Jetta--the frame is much different than my bug convertible, and getting into the car at the dealership I banged my back hard--and most painfully--on the door frame. Getting out, I banged my head on the frame. I will be much more cautious now. The bug barely fits into my 1922 garage, so I haven't tried the Jetta--besides I left the automatic gate opener in my own car.