Renaissance Festival Book Signing

Greetings Good Friends!

I am back from my trip to Phoenix and Apache Junction where I was invited to have a book signing at the 2013 Arizona Renaissance Festival, thanks to my friend and fellow author, Ann Chamberlin.  Here are some photos as promised.

 
 I worked up to the day before the trip sewing and getting last minute items to complete my costume.


At the motel Saturday morning before driving to the festival.

The morning was really nice, cool and sunny.  My husband, Lee, and I has stayed the night in Phoenix and then drove to Apache Junction where hundreds of cars lined up on US60 to enter the festival parking lot. Once inside the renaissance village with my rolling crate of books and book signing necessities I got to work setting up the table located outside Lady Ann Chamberlin's Book Shop.


You can see the table with the red and white tablecloth at the front. I was so glad it was shady there as the day got hotter as time passed. It was hard to believe it was winter as temperatures rose into the mid-seventies.


Passer-byes grew steadily in number until the road in front of me was filled and sitting at my table became impossible. So many passed by without stopping as there was so much to see. It was steep competition out there with so many talented merchants and entertainers vying for people's attention. I read that there were over 200 merchants and thirteen stages of entertainers plus a large variety of eateries and rides at this year's Renaissance Festival.

I stood to stretch out my hand and called out to grab people's attention. "Smile and sound excited," I kept telling myself. My aggressiveness paid off.  One person led to two, then three and more. People began to circle around my little table as I showed them my drawings and books. It was a good place to sell "Realmwalkers" and despite the competition and despite the fact that I am a new and unknown author, I sold eighteen (yes, 18!) copies in the six hours I was there. The only time I got to sit down was for signing the books and my poor feet were killing me. The throbbing still haunts me just to remember. Anyway, it was a good event and I met many people who enjoyed medieval fantasy books. Ann was pleased with how well the event went. 


The left photo shows my little feather brooch on my black velvet hat. I even took links from my belt to make the hoop earrings and hat brooch. If you look close enough, you might be able to see how the sides of my black surcoat are laced up with red/green ribbons. I almost lost a thumb while hammering the grommets into place. LOL! I was warm and comfortable while I pitched my book to the many visitors there that day.

Lee stopped by to check on me and brought me some lunch. He strolled the faire and even passed out some business cards. My friend, Vince, suggests I get Lee to wear one of those sandwich signs to promote the book signing next year. HAH! I don't think so. After the book signing, he helped get my rolling crate back to the car and despite my aching feet, I spent about a half hour wandering around the faire to see what was new.

There were the same events and artisans I have seen from previous visits. There were souvenir shops, rides, jousting, dancers, comedians, performers, and artists. I saw artwork there that made my drawings look like doodles. Such talent! I drank some cold Pear Cider and felt right at home in my scribe costume. It was a wonderful time!

The Priestess and the Ravenknight at Amazon!

I am very pleased to inform you that my latest story, The Priestess and the Ravenknight, is now available at Amazon.com. The events of this story take place in the capital city of Espion, Sangrey (land of the dark elves) some time before what took place in Realmwalkers, and introduces two of my dark elf characters. I call this a medieval fantasy romance novelette and it is my first solo endeavor. Jack (co-author of Realmwalkers) helped me with some editing and proofing, as did other dear friends Vince and Brett. Thank you all once again!

The ebook costs $2.99 to download the Kindle version. There is no printed version and it's not going to be sold anywhere else for now. I have joined Amazon's KDP program where Prime Members are able to borrow this ebook for free! Non-Members can buy it and download it in just a few minutes. I am trying the Prime Program out to see how it works so I won't be selling any copies of this ebook here at my blog. Instead, please click on this book image and it will take you straight to the Amazon webpage to learn about my newest ebook: The Priestess and the Ravenknight.

The Priestess and the Ravenknight

If you don't own a Kindle eReader, Amazon now offers a FREE App for your device so you can download and read Kindle books. Click the image below to learn more about this app.