WINCHESTER: A WELCOMING WAY TO INTRODUCE SHAY
National Independent Bookstore Day & A Few Suggested Reads
In honor of my inaugural book signing event yesterday, I’ll be posting about that event this week, as well as mentioning a few fellow author’s books you might want to check out. Then next week for Monday Morning Literary Bric-a-Brac we’ll return to our ongoing adventures at sea with installment number nine (my favorite number!) of Innocents Abroad: Around the World in 80 Days 1980.
Yesterday I traveled to the historic city of Winchester, Virginia, invited by Winchester Book Gallery, who wanted to host my very first book signing for my debut #kidlit novel, Shay the Brave.
Winchester Book Gallery was a thoroughly delightful setting amid Winchester’s Old Town pedestrian district (Loudoun Street) filled with shops, restaurants, and other sights worth seeing.
I was there as a part of their National Independent Bookstore Day celebration, along with fellow author, Magdalene Dietschka (The Physician – Conquest Publishing), who shared an author table with me, but what neither of us knew was that Winchester also happened to be holding their annual Apple Blossom Festival.
What a delightful surprise!
Musicians, food venters, crafts people, artists, and others filled the downtown streets with cheer, showcasing all their amazing talents.
One music stage was set up right across from Winchester Book Gallery, serenading our book signing all afternoon. It was great.
Customers filed past, perusing the bookstore, and stopping by our table to chat with us about our books, some buying, others just taking our business cards and bookmarks with the intention of looking us up online later. Everyone was interesting to chat with.
I even met a few customers down all the way from my old neck of the woods (eastern PA: Allentown, Philly, Lancaster) and one fellow who’d worked at Armstrong Cork Company back in the day (my dad worked more than 40 years for Armstrong, and I did a paid summer internship there, driving forklift).
The bookstore owner had baked up a storm, offering delicious mini cherry tarts, cookies, and other yummies to all comers. She was as warm and welcoming to us as she is to all her clientele, demonstrating that particular brand of kindness and entrepreneurial spirit that make flourishing independent bookstores everywhere the inviting meccas they are for book lovers.
As part of my in-person and my virtual (companion) book signings, I held a #giveaway for two Shay The Brave mugs and a Shay the Brave deck of playing cards.
The winners are: Ingrid Godfrey (Shay the Brave travel mug), Haddie Anne Brice (Shay the Brave coffee mug), Lindsay Keeting (Shay the Brave deck of cards)
Prizes will be mailed to each winner as soon as they PM me with a mailing address. Congrats to these friends and supports of all things Shay!
After the signing, Magdalene and some of her family joined my sister, Fame-in-the-Offing (see parts one, two, three, and four of Innocents Abroad), and me at a lovely French Bistro down the street from Winchester Book Gallery: The American Bar.
Anytime you’re in the vicinity, I highly recommend you check out both Winchester Book Gallery and The American Bar to make your visit to Old Town Winchester shine like a new penny.
A FEW BOOKS TO CHECK OUT
And now, in further honor of Indie Bookstore Day, some Indie books for you to check out. By “indie” here I mean books that may have been published by small, indie publishing houses (like mine) or by the authors themselves.
The Physician (Spicy Paranormal Romance) by Magdalene Dietschka
Jake Perlman’s fate changed forever when a broken dam washed his school bus over a bridge and a Shepherd named Omiel stole him from the Angel of Death. As a Stolen, Jake grew up honing his acquired powers under Omiel’s guidance. Now he must assemble his coterie, a group of fellow Stolen with similar gifts.
Yael Taube knew from youth she was destined to be a Companion, the soulmate to a Stolen. After she and Jake meet they quickly realize pulling their coterie together will be anything but easy. Between their shared trauma, doubt in their fate, and evil beings called Sirens trying to harm them, the future is anything but certain, even though the entire world is depending on their success.
Anywhere Else (YA Romance) by Kayla Hicks
Leena’s life has been anything but perfect between an alcoholic mother, a chaotic home life, and a longtime boyfriend who dumps her at her most vulnerable moment. When forced to live out of her truck, her mantra becomes, make it through just long enough for college to start. But after she and her bestie, Sydney, snag a cheap apartment, things start looking up. At least, that is, until two guys enter stage left: Brent, a sexy wildcard with secrets that fall a little too close to home for Leena, and Garret--her ex boyfriend’s handsome, kind, and loyal bestie—who might be the one she never realized she’s wanted all along.
Wisteria (MG Fantasy / Forest Folktale) by Kelly Webber
Oisin recounts his great-great-grandfather Finnian’s magical adventure of leaving everything he knew to cross the West Wind Sea, encountering power-hungry wizards ransacking the realm of its magic. A witch, a sea monster, a Queen (and her very hungry cat) complete a cast of colorful characters who help propel Finnian’s journey from an ordinary adventure into one that changes everything for his forest, friends, and family.
The Element (YA Fantasy) by Natalie Brougham)
Alowen is ready to break free from the quiet life of a student in Arbor, having longed to travel the whole Element and write about her experiences. But when she’s selected to attend the famous Element Party in underwater Baccha as a scribe, is she ready to step into her new life? Just as she begins her training, visions lead her to the brink of wondering if she’s losing her mind or witnessing terrible secrets. What if the people in power are keeping the truth from view? Follow Alowen as she uncovers the chilling answer.
Beautiful Disasters (Poetry) by Elabeth Cooney
An intimate journey into soul-baring poetry from the poet’s tumultuous teens through her turbulent twenties, confronting addiction, mental health challenges, and the depths of despair. Cooney strives to embolden those wrestling similar demons, and hopes to illuminate their paths for loved ones walking beside them in their difficult journeys.
More Than One Way to Breathe (YA / Coming-of-age) by Abigail Wild
(Review by Riley Kilmore) Many teens will relate to this coming-of-age tale about a girl (Mia) with an abusive mom, an enabler dad, and that one bestie (Sophie) whose friendship and support keeps her world from unraveling completely. Sophie's got challenges of her own, though, with lungs ravaged by the culminating damage of Cystic Fibrosis, so Mia's on the giving end of encouragement and support as much as on the receiving end.
Their belief in one another's worth and resiliency helps see Mia and Sophie through the inescapable: the familiar throes of high school bullying, the first fragile explorations of young love, the need to endure with as much dignity as possible what life throws one's way, when they're still too young to escape it.
More Than One Way to Breath by Abigail Wild will surely make engaged readers feel they aren't alone in their own challenges as they, too, stand on the sharp precipice of womanhood.
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Thanks for visiting with me on another Monday morning. I hope you’ll come back next week for part nine of the continuing adventure of my around-the-world trip aboard the SS Universe with the Semester at Sea program. Subscribe if you’d like to have my weekly substack land directly in your inbox so you never miss another issue of Monday Morning Literary Bric-a-Brac.
And don’t forget about my #sharewithshay and #pictureyourselfwithshay #giveaways currently running. Details can be found in this previous post.
Not sure how I missed this! Thank you for the mention 🙂 much appreciated