How did you come up with that?

This question and many others came from a dozen lovely ladies of the Welch Bookies Book Club a few days ago. For my first face-to-face book club, the initiation was pure bliss! We laughed, talked about our favorite characters, and had random discussions about pink sponge hair rollers, Ford Edsels, Gone With The Wind, and Happy, Texas. Sort of like stepping into a roomful of friends I didn't know I had and wishing I could unpack and stay awhile.

And that's not to mention the amazing hostess of the evening: Jeane Wynn. She selected my book for her "turn" and had the meeting at the Wynn-Wynn Media office. Tyson, the other half of Wynn-Wynn took off his work hat and donned his chef's apron to prepare a banquet of hors d'oeuvres. Yummmmm!

I have to tell you two of the "coincidences" of the evening. One was that Jeane borrowed a 1950s red and white enamel table for holding the beverages. What she didn't know was that I ate at a table exactly like that as a child (and have the table upstairs now - a remnant of my childhood). The other thing (and I think this might have been intentional on Jeane's part) was that one of the cakes was also exactly like the one I envisioned Irene Flanagan from Chasing Lilacs bringing to each and every occasion that required a cake. And it tasted as good as I envisioned, too!

Jeane presented me with Welch Community Cook Book

Thanks, Jeane and Tyson, for all the great food, decorations, and hospitality. Thank you, Welch Bookies, for one of the nicest evenings I've had all summer. You've set the bar high for my next book club appearance.

My new friend who won the gift basket! Congrats, Mary!

I'll be back with one of the recipes from the evening later in the week.

Q4U: Do you belong to a book club? I'd love for you to tell me about it!

On The Road

In about twelve hours I'm headed to the northeast part of Oklahoma for a book signing at the CHAPTERS BOOK STORE in Miami and then later spending the evening with a book club that has just read Chasing Lilacs. There's a lovely writeup on the WelchOK.com site. And if you're in the area, please come by and say hi! I'll be at Chapters from 3:30pm until 5:30 pm. Love to see you! 

And speaking of being on the road and book clubs . . . I just signed up for the Pulpwood Queen and Timber Guy Book Club's "Girlfriend Weekend" in Jefferson, TX which will be held on January 13 - 16, 2010.

Here's the scoop from the tiara-wearing, book-loving queen, Kathy Patrick . . .

Flamboyant comedian, actress, screenwriter, and author, FANNIE FLAGG, of "I Still Dream About You, Honey: A Novel" has just been confirmed by Random House Publishers to be one of our Keynote Speakers during Girlfriend Weekend 2011!

We have attained the TRIPLE CROWN! Announcing our Keynote Speakers for our 2011 book club hosted event, Fannie Flagg, Pat Conroy, and Rick Bragg! Woo! Hoo!

New York Time's Bestselling author, back by popular demand, Pat Conroy of "My Reading Life" has confirmed , also Random House Publishers, he will too be here with this incredible message below that he personally emailed me. Look out Pulpwood Queens, he's bringing with his entourage', his best friend, Bernie Schein! You have been warned!!!!!

ALL the information is right here including what's on the schedule when, the authors who've been invited to participate in two days of author panels, all the extra activities and WHAT TO WEAR to the ball on Saturday night.

I can't wait for this event!! A little secret: The price goes up on September 1, so you might want to hop over there now to get your name on the list. Of course, I'll be telling you more about this and the Books Alive! event in Jefferson in November (MUCH MORE about that later). And you can find info for that here.

Have I mentioned how much I love being with my readers and other authors?? This is a joy beyond anything I dreamed. Maybe I'll be on the road to your neck 'o the woods soon.

Life Is a Merry-Go-Round

My apologies, dear readers, here at the Cafe. I've been absent more than present lately. Truthfully, I've been caught in the thrill - and sometimes daunting merry-go-round - of marketing of Chasing Lilacs. After five book signings, including my first ever trip to the International Christian Retail Show in St. Louis, I was feeling a bit wiped out. I LOVE meeting readers and schmoozing with all my writing friends, but I was feeling like I needed a good dose of my "normal" life. So that's what I've been doing. We've had two of our grandsons for their annual stay with Mimi and Papa Max, celebrated our grand-twins' birthday, and am feeling recharged and ready to go. Oh, I also finished the copy edits for Broken Wings, my novel which comes out next summer, and am working on the proposal for what I hope will be my third novel (it's not sold yet - I have to present the idea with a few chapters - prayers would be appreciated).

I've received some of the nicest notes from many of you and more great reviews. You don't realize how much those mean to me - sometimes it's more than my heart can hold. I'm also getting back on the carousel this week and will be making my first "in-person" visit with a book club and traveling to the Northeast corner of the state to the Chapters Book Store in Miami, OK. I can hardly wait! And I love how one of my recent readers, the Redneck Diva, is spreading the word about that event. You can also read her review of Chasing Lilacs here. Her giveaway opportunity has passed, but just wanted to share her sweet take on my book.

So wherever you are, I hope you're having a "happening" summer, that you're able to spend some time with those you love, meet new friends, and recharge your batteries. Hmmm. Having written that, I realize that summer is OVER for many of you - school buses are starting to roll. Alarm clocks are buzzing. Gee, it doesn't seem possible.

Hope to see you all here more often. And if you're in the area, here's the info about my booksigning this week.

Chapters Book Store
Main Street, Miami, OK
Thursday, August 12 ~ 3:30 - 5:30 pm

Miami's a small town. If you find Main Street, then you can find Chapters! Looking forward to a grand time!

Until next time . . .