The First STAY Event

Oh my gosh! Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that my first reading for STAY would be so freaking fantastic. There were so many people. I started reading to a really good sized crowd, and when I looked up at the audience a few paragraphs later, the room was completely packed with a crowd of people standing in the back. It was also as I started to read a more emotional scene, and, well, you know me -I started to get a little choked up.

The Q&A part of the event was so much fun. Great questions! It's so much fun to talk about the writing process with other writers and talk about dogs with other dog lovers. And signing books - oh, it doesn't get better than having a few minutes to chat with everyone who showed up. I got to see dog pictures and sign books that would be gifts to friends, and meet kids I'd only known from Facebook photos.

I am so completely amazed and so thankful to everyone who made the event so incredibly special. Getting to be in the same room and share my work with the people who have made Rochester my home over the past ten years truly is a dream come true. Old friends, new friends, work friends, blue friends (no, no one was blue, but I seemed to be headed in that direction).

And honestly, if you haven't been to the Greece Ridge Barnes & Noble, you are really missing something. The booksellers and staff are like a family of people who love love love books. I feel so thankful that they've taken me in and supported me through. Seeing STAY on the shelves is all the more special because I got to share this process with them.

Rebecca, the Community Relations Manager, even worked with my friends from high school to have the poster in the photo above sent up for the event. She unveiled it after I was done reading (thankfully, because I would have sobbed more than read if she'd done it before). It came with a card signed, from your oldest friends and friends from nursery school and summer camp and high school signed it for me. I am so touched, that not only did my friends put this together, but that Rebecca helped, and everyone at B&N kept it a secret!

I'll steal more photos from Facebook to post later, but the above is my favorite of the set J took. The lovely Ben Gonyo posing in front of the poster my friends sent up.

THANK YOU!!! And thank you to everyone who sends and tweets photos of my book with their dogs and kids and on shelves. It is so exciting to see STAY from your perspective. And I hope I get to meet so many of you while I'm out and about this summer.

And! More links!!!!!

Malfeasance

Drunk Writer Talk

Two Peas in a Bucket

Melissa Walker

The Good Human

Blatherskite

Guide to Literary Agents

Condo Blues

Return to Rural

Free and Flawed

The Debutante Ball

How to Make Kimchi

Debs Book Bag

Sidenote

M. J. Iuppa

Yikes! My first book event! And a whole lot of links!

I would be completely and totally lying if I said I wasn't nervous about the big event tonight. It's my first book event, and there are all those, What if I trip/What if the strap on my dress breaks/What if weeping angel statue aliens descend on the bookstore and steal my life force? fears, (I've been watching a lot of Doctor Who, and that episode was TERRIFYING!*).

But, I'm also completely and totally excited and so thrilled to see people I haven't seen in a very long time, and meet people I know from the internets in person for the very first time. And I'm also thrilled to meet new people who think it might be fun to show up to see some girl with messy hair read from a book with a big German Shepherd on the cover, because, if you think that way, I just automatically like you.

Okay, so I have to go make myself look more presentable than my usual yoga pants/writing sweater now, but I'll leave you with lots of links. Thank you so much to everyone who has been supporting STAY. Every one of these links have made me smile and cry and feel so honored. I put myself out there, and you guys offered up so much kindness in return. I love you so much for it. Thank you!!!!!!

I'll try to tweet a few pictures from the event.

Melissa Senate (You NEED to read THE SECRET OF JOY, by the way. It's wonderful!)

Aringsburg's German Shepherd Dogs

Asthma Mom

The Prettiest Denny's Waitress

Charlotte's Web of Books

Dianne's Dishes

Mindi Scott (Look for her novel, FREEFALL in October 2010!)

If you write about STAY please e-mail the link to me at info at allielarkinwrites dot com. And if I miss you, let me know! Oh, the book brain! :)

*Did you see it? Let's discuss. Also, thoughts on the new Doctor?

It's Pub Day!!!!

Oh my goodness! I am really wishing I'd had the good sense to put waterproof mascara on today, because I have been a big old mess, and every time I think I've pulled it together, I get an e-mail or a tweet or a phone call or someone posts a picture of their dog with their copy of STAY and I lose it all over again. I feel like the luckiest person to know such kind and supportive people and I am completely humbled (and yes, I'm crying again). Today has been amazing.

I got to stop over at the Greece Barnes & Noble today, have lunch with Linda, who runs the Titles Over Tea book club (which is WONDERFUL), and her husband Roger, and I got visit with some of the booksellers. I'll be reading there tomorrow, and I'm thrilled. Everyone there is so welcoming and kind.

I bought a copy of my book. I don't know if you're supposed to do that, as a writer, and quite frankly, I don't care if you're not. Of course, I have my author copies, but I wanted to have that experience of walking into a store and buying my very own book for the very first time. Mike, one of my friends at B&N, sold it me, and I had HIM sign it. That's the copy I'll be reading from.

I'm over at Penguin's Blog today, blogging about how publishing a book is a little like skinny dipping, and I am completely honored to be there.

This is all, absolutely, a dream coming true. I heard COME AS YOU ARE by Nirvana on the radio today, and burst into tears (again). I had NEVERMIND on cassette when I was in high school and would listen to it over and over again. None of this would have ever seemed possible to me then. I am so completely and totally thankful for today.

J is taking me out to dinner to celebrate, and I don't have time to put all the links up before our reservation, so I will post a big long link post tomorrow. Promise!!!!

"Can't stop now, I've traveled so far. . ."

Well, the cure for Final Countdown is apparently this (Do not click on it! I'm warning you!). I heard it on the radio yesterday, and now I am prone to randomly belting out the chorus while I make coffee, do the dishes, etc. J is so lucky he doesn't work from home.

Oh, who are we kidding? I don't do dishes. I put my coffee mug in the dishwasher, sing a few verses into a spatula, get distracted by something shiny, and then completely forget I haven't finished the dishes, until I need my afternoon cup of coffee and walk into a kitchen full of messy.

But it's all okay, because the messiest of kitchens can't get me down when Library Journal is going around printing things like this about STAY:

"It's GILMORE GIRLS meets MARLEY & ME in this funny and compelling debut."

I have tried six times to type an appropriate response to that, but I just can't. GILMORE GIRLS! Aside from Cicely, Alaska, there's no fictional town I'd rather live in than Stars Hollow. So, sufficed to say, Mrs. X can suck it!

The LJ review is in the print issue, so I can't link to it. But I can link to all these other amazing posts that some wonderful, wonderful bloggers posted yesterday, blog tour and otherwise.

• Howling Hill
• Two Frog Home
• The Divining Wand (STAY giveaway contest ends tonight!)
• A Free Man
• Who's Your Dachshund?
• sweet somethings
• In Java, Literally . . .
• Petite Planet
• Mudpuddle
• Jonathan Everitt
• the state that i am in
• Barnes & Noble Book Club Blogs - Cover Story
• Greece Messenger Post Newspaper
• Boston Book Bums

And my little sister-in-law got in on the STAY blogging action! By the way, when she says she wouldn't have been able to lie if she didn't like the book, she totally means it, so I'm glad she liked it! Phew! :)

And, as a reminder, Chick Lit Central's STAY giveaway is open until Friday, as is the query letter critique contest.

Also, I love you. Lots. Getting to share my book, and read everybody's thoughts on it, absolutely means the world to me. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Quick, give me another song!

The other day, my sister-in-law posted on my Facebook wall that we were at the final countdown for the book and now I can't stop singing Europe.

We are so close, I can taste the grape Kool-Aid (which, after writing STAY, I will never be able to drink again, by the way).

I am also so completely overwhelmed (in a good way) by the support from all of you. This week marks the start of my blog tour, and it's been so amazing to get to answer questions and read posts by bloggers I know and love. THANK YOU!!!! Things don't ever feel quite real until you can share them with friends, and now, finally, it's all starting to sink in.

Holy crap! I wrote a book. :)

Here are some links, blog tour and otherwise, where STAY has been showing up. I'll be posting every day this week with updates as to my whereabouts online. Since I didn't post links yesterday, there's a one day delay on post links (if you're interested in the minute technical details of my link posting methodology).

• On Common Ground
• Chiot's Run
• Chick Lit Central
• Blatherskite
• Hearts into Home
• Lori Roy

Also, my co-Greenists have made it STAY week at The Greenists, and in honor of Van's penchant for the junkiest of junk food, NPW put up a recipe for organic pop rocks yesterday. Seriously! You knew NPW was awesome, but did you know she could make pop rocks?

If you're a writer, don't forget to enter the query letter contest.

And if you have the cure for singing Europe non-stop, please leave it in comments.

Query Letter Contest

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I absolutely, positively adore working with my agent, Rebecca Strauss, at McIntosh & Otis. Rebecca is an amazing advocate for my work, a wise advisor, and a great reader. Plus, she has an incredible sense of humor and an infectious laugh, so getting the chance to chat with her is always fun. Rebecca pulled my query letter out of the slush pile, took a chance on me, and has put so much time and hard work into getting STAY where it is today. I am eternally grateful.

Plus, Rebecca has some great clients, and I love having the opportunity to connect with them too! Two of Rebecca's clients, Corinne and Wendy, have agreed to host blog tour stops for STAY. In honor of STAY's publication week, Rebecca is offering to critique a query letter and the first two pages of a manuscript for one lucky writer.

To enter, leave a comment on this post. For two more entries, leave a comment on Corinne's post and Wendy's post. One comment per person per post, please. On Friday, we'll announce the winner. You don't have to have a finished manuscript to enter, although if you do, all the better.

If your commenting profile doesn't link to an e-mail address where we can reach you if you win, make sure to either leave your e-mail address in comments, or e-mail me (info at allielarkinwrites dot com)after you leave a comment on this blog, with Query Contest in the subject line and your comment name in the body of the e-mail.

To learn more about query letters, check out this how-to guide at AgentQuery.com.

Rebecca Strauss

An Agent at McIntosh & Otis, Inc., Rebecca is eager to work with both debut and established authors. She is looking to add to her list of diverse and compelling projects and is particularly seeking non-fiction, literary and commercial fiction, women’s fiction, mysteries, memoirs, humor and pop culture. As the Director of Subsidiary Rights, she continues to build on her prior experience with Trident Media Group, as well as her time at Sony Pictures where she was a book scout and development assistant. Rebecca earned her degree in English Literature from Duke University.

STAY Release Week

I cannot believe that this week my novel hits shelves! And goodness, it will be a busy week!

• All this week, I'll be tweeting pictures from some of the real life locations featured in STAY. Follow me @AlliesAnswers.
• The STAY blog tour starts, and I'll be posting links to the blogs hosting stops.
• Thursday is the official publication day!
• Friday is my first book discussion/signing event!

Last week was pretty great too!

• I got to read an advance copy of Claire Cook's new book, SEVEN YEAR SWITCH, and it was absolutely wonderful. Claire is one of my favorite writers and it was an honor to have the chance to read it before it hit shelves.
• Shanna and I went on a photography adventure.
• J bought me a box of gluten-free donuts (hey, just because there are big things going on, it doesn't mean I don't appreciate the little things, like gluten-free food that doesn't taste like old cardboard).
• I finally got a haircut/color after putting it off for ages.
• I was the first author to sign the back of the Greece Ridge Mall Barnes & Noble Nook!

And, look for another post following this one with a great contest for writers!