Book Signing

I had my first book signing!

There are moments when I feel like a "real" author, but mostly I feel like a fraud.  Yesterday's book signing was a combination of both feelings.  It was amazing.

Jax had grouped all of the horse-based authors together, so no matter what we wrote, we all had something in common.  Sitting right next to me was Jennifer Morrissey, who literally wrote the book on Fell Ponies.  I'd never even heard of a Fell pony, but I tell you what, I really want one.  They're a larger working pony and they're beautiful.  Though mostly Fell ponies (for those of you who have ever heard of them) are thought of as miniature Friesians (don't call them that, though, because they're not) due to their predominately black color, they also come in dark bay, brown, and grey.  Only about 6,000 Fells exist in the world, with most of them living in the UK.  About 400 of them live here in the US, so they're a pretty rare breed.  I was thrilled to get to learn about them from Jennifer.

Also at my table was M.J. Evans who has written a couple of very popular trail riding guides.  In fact, I think Mom and Bill own at least one of her guidebooks.  She and I compared notes on a few of the trails we had in common.  M.J. also writes children's fiction and has several books out.  Her Mist trilogy sounds fascinating to me and I delighted in hearing her tell the kids who came by just enough to get them interested in her books.

And man, oh man, what I would have given to learn to pack from Ollie Hill.  I hate packing.  Not the move-a-house-kind, but the haul-guests-into-the-mountains-kind.  Ollie thrives on it and he just lights up when he talks about pack trips. I wish I had even 1/10th the passion for pack trips that he does.

There was one author who was segregated from the rest of us, which was a shame because he's a hoot!  Let's just say that someone whose answer to the simple question, "how are you doing?" is, "only modesty prevents me from telling you" is someone you want to spend some time talking to.  His books are collections of short stories from his years working ranches and taking out trail rides.  Sound familiar?  The difference is that his are awesome and told in a way that only a grizzled old cowboy can do it.

I was nervous about being at my first book signing and not having anyone come see me, so I pestered my family and friends and they came through big time.  Not only did I have a fairly steady stream of visitors, but my Ashinator even brought me flowers!

She's a good kid.  I sometimes don't deserve her.

Jay spent the day with me and got to meet one of his four-wheeling heroes, Chuck Wells, and talk to a handful of children's book authors and illustrators.  Maybe next year, we'll both be a part of Jax's Local Author Day.

The only problem with Jax Author Day was that there were so many great books that I ended up spending more money Christmas shopping than I made.  Oops.  I'll have to plan better next year.