I gave a party and no one came

With Jordan at The Gilded Cage book signing

It happens to all authors at least once and many more often. It’s not exactly true that no one came—I’d say about twelve non-family members came, but they were all people who are like family to me. Jordan’s good friend David, whom I’ve known since their high school days, wandered in first, and he, Jordan, Jacob and I sat alone, looking forlorn I’m sure, for over an hour. Just before party time we had a heck of a rainstorm—I thought my umbrella and I were going to be blown away in horizontal rain. Jacob was supposed to shepherd me but he abandoned his duty and ran for cover. Jordan came and helped me.

Jordan put this party together, and put her heart and soul into organizing it. It was at the Wine Haus but Chadra next door delivers appetizers, and she ordered a delicious assortment. I sold seven copies of my novel, The Gilded Cage, and two copies of the children’s book that started me investigating the life of Bertha Honoré Cissy Palmer—the children’s copies were a bonus and last minute thought.

Jordan, Chandry and Marj--good friends at the signing

There are several ways to look at this: some authors have parties and don’t sell any books. Seven is not great, but it’s okay. And I got lots of emails from people who were put off by the weather, by illness, travel, work, etc. So the word was out and some who wrote to me had already bought the book.

This book is, as I’ve said, a major effort on my part, my “big” book, the result of probably ten years of writing, putting it aside, writing and revising, changing the voice of the narrator. It represents hours and hours of work on my part, and I desperately want it to do well. I also hope that it gathers a national audience, not just Texas. It’s set in my hometown of Chicago, unlike my Texas-based mysteries. So I’m hoping some other measures that I’ve taken will bring it the attention I think it deserves—I’ll be on a blog tour in late May and early June arranged by the Historical Fiction Blog Tours—they know the sites for readers of historical fiction—and I’ve hired a publicist every other month for three months. We’ll see if these investments pan out—or prove to be, like tonight, a big bust.

So tonight I’m neither elated nor disappointed. It is what it was. I enjoyed the evening with friends--most of whom were Jordan’s friends who are like other children to me—and I was glad to see the close friends who went to dinner with us afterward.

A bonus to the day: this morning a lovely woman who has a used-book stall in a local antique mall came to go through my books and bought 134 books. Nope, it didn’t by any means wipe out my bookshelves but it was a start. My friend Carol Roark arranged it, was here to help, and has ideas for the rest of the books. A step forward in the long downsizing process, and it’s reassuring to know she found my books interesting.

All in all, progress and a lovely day.

Cookbook/memoir signing

My good friend Jeannie Chaffee had a signing party at her gorgeous home (circa 1920) this afternoon. Jeannie is a professional party giver, and every party she plans has great class. This was no exception--beautiful tiered trays of fruit, cheese and crackers, brownies, and little lemon cakes, white wine and lemonade. Not as many people as we'd hoped showed up but a nice sociable crowd and we had a good time. Several people bought more than one book, which pleased me, and some came all the way from Dallas. It was a lovely event. My longtime friend Mary Lu leafed through looking at pictures and said, "There's a lot of nostalgia there." She has known me and my family since 1970. Another friend was delighted to know that their were recipes in there from my friend Charles' late wife Reva, from the days we used to cook together. And Jeannie herself says she's reading for the story of my life and ignoring the recipes. I certainly do have a lot more of myself invested in this book than in many others I've done.

The pictures above are obviously from the party. The one with the lovely blonde shows me and Jeannie and the table she set. And sorry but you simply have to turn your head to look at Jordan and me because I don't know how to turn the image. One of those computer image things I'll learn one day.

Megan called this morning and said she had planned to surprise me and drive up and then spend the night. But she got loaded down with work and couldn't do it. Then Jamie called. They were due back from DisneyWorld at 1 p.m. yesterday but didn't get home until midnight and he said there was no way they could do it. And Colin called tonight to say he really tried to figure a way to come from Houston but just couldn't, especially since Lisa had a mandatory teachers' workshop yesterday. But the kids all know they're a big part of the book and they wanted to be there for me.

Jordan bless her was there--taking pictures, helping Jeannie, and graciously greeting people. We were supposed to have dinner here afterward, then we were supposed to go to Joe T.'s, then we were back to having dinner here, and finally we ended up taking dinner out to her house where I cooked chicken and a wine/mushroom gravy, made a salad, and dished up some of the fruit from Jeannie's party. So it was a confusing but pleasant evening, and Jordan brought me home nice and early.

Sorry, but this blog is mostly pictures. I'm too tired for deep thoughts.