I went to a book signing this past Saturday as one of nineteen authors. It was supposed to be twenty, but Julie Doherty was sick that morning.

The event was fun. The weather was not.

It was about 2,000 degrees below zero and the wind was blowing about 300MPH. It had snowed about an inch the night before, but the roads were mostly cleared by the time I drove away.

Except…it was very windy and as I traveled north the snow kept blowing over empty-but-for-snow fields and across the roads…a lot. So, you’re going 45 or 55 and then you see a thick patch of snow ahead, so the cars ahead of you slows down to 25 mph.

It took longer to get there than I thought, but I got there safely. A good thing.

It’s been a while since my last book signing, and I’d forgotten how heavy it is to carry books and all the paraphernalia authors bring with them. A small rolling suitcase will be used by me next time.

The event was in a nursery…the kind where plants, mulch and flowers are sold. They also sold many neat and cool things that called to me to buy them and take them home with me. Proud to say I resisted.

I was seated between authors Delynn Royer and Wade Kelly. Delynn is in my writing group, the CPRW, and we’ve been at retreat together, and Wade Kelly lives in Maryland. But I had met Wade about four years ago at Kid’s Fest, held at Codorus State Park where I had taken the grandtwins each morning for one week that summer. We both agreed we looked familiar, and Wade figured it out.

Surprisingly to us, there were a lot of people who braved the roads and wind and came through and looked at all the books, some asking questions, taking our cards, free gifts and occasionally buying books. We assumed the weather would keep everyone at home. But these people must have been book lovers, or else they were so bored they decided this would be something different to do on a Saturday.

Many of these people expressed their surprise that there were so many authors who were local or lived elsewhere in Pennsylvania. I know, right? Hopefully these kind people who bought our books will read them and return again next year for another Valentine’s book signing.

When you go to book signings, do you avoid looking at the author? Or do you enjoy chatting with the author? We really do realize that no one will be coming in and buying a copy of every book for sale. We really do. :D

Oh, and it’s snowing again.