I Said Not This Time, And I Meant It

That’s right. I did not have a repeat of last year at this year’s RT Booklover’s Convention.

Thank you, better living through pharmaceuticals!

Granted, some of it was me making sure I was also better prepared from a professional standpoint as well as an emotional one. I had lists. I had a rolly suitcase full of gear for my table. I had brief, (hopefully) witty yet accurate descriptions of my books – aka “elevator pitches” – ready to go. I was wearing glittery high heels.

Okay, that last one was more of an aesthetic thing, but I really like those shoes, so…yeah. Anyway, glitter never hurt anything, right?

There were some hitches during the week, and thanks to a fitness injury I’d been nursing along for a month, I was tired and achy during more of my time in Atlanta than I would have liked. A touch of Con Crud didn’t help matters. But I did my best to rest as much as I could, and to tend to my social anxiety as much as I could, and I think that helped. Also I had the World’s Best Con Roommates in my fellow Hufflepuffs Rachel Davidson Leigh and CB Lee, so that was a definite plus. No stress, only constant snacking and tea breaks!

Thirty minutes before the Giant Book Fair, I fished out my performance anxiety pills, shot one, and prepared to sparkle.

I like to think I succeeded.

I was slung between two absolutely marvelous tablemates, the lovely Cydney Rax and the delightful Amy E. Reichert. I had a blast with both of them, and could not at all have asked for better company. I’m pretty sure that also helped! When we weren’t selling and signing books, we were all chattering, and an introvert I may be…but when you get me started talking, it takes a while to stop me.

Which is good because, much to my amazement, people came to my table? To talk to me? About my books? And despite a snafu by the book suppliers that resulted in me having only five books to sell, all of them my f/f bakery romance and no copies of my first book…I sold them all? And had to apologize to people later for having no books to sell them?

These are new and exciting developments! I enjoyed them a great deal! Okay, I would have loved to have had the full set of books I ordered, but okay okay, it worked out, I think.

The important thing is, I did not cry. Not even a little, not even once. No panic, no fear, no freezing up – nothing but sparkle, Neely, sparkle! Only not actually the crazy Valley of the Dolls kind of sparkle. Normal sparkle.

And if you ran into me at RT, maybe you got a promo card for a little somethin’ somethin’ that’s currently scheduled for release on August 3rd, 2017…

World, meet Alex. Isn’t he cute?

Absolutely, Almost, Perfect is probably my favorite of all three of my books. I feel like it’s bad luck and inviting trouble to say it out loud, but seriously, it is! In my opinion it’s the funniest I’ve been yet. Plus it delves more into how Alex has been handling his anxiety, and how he copes with his first big challenge since beginning to manage it: an Oliver family wedding in jolly old England.

It’s not just about Alex, of course, everyone’s favorite Best Boyfriend Craig Oliver is naturally present, but anything more would be…well.

I am cautiously excited to unleash this one into the world. I hope there are people who are excited to see it coming!

Also, my Better Baking Half Angela and I have filmed some of our Sucre Coeur Test Kitchen antics, which I hope to compile into a video-blog miniseries, to be released in the weeks leading up to the book launch.

Eeeeee!

Things are going well!

Anyone got a line on anvil-proof umbrellas?