My life has been so crazy these last few weeks. After my amazing release week, I went full throttle into house building/selling/packing mode, and there are days when I wake up and it takes me hours before I remember that my book is out in the world. My book!

But a post sharing my release week experience is long overdue.

The weekend before, I got some good press. My hometown paper, the St. Albans Messenger, ran a nice long piece about me and the book, quoting several passages and promoting the reading at the Eloquent Page (sorry, no link). A state-wide paper, SevenDays did a review. And I started getting pictures like this:

 

Which were surprising because I didn’t think it was supposed to be out yet! Then on Sunday, I experienced finding the book in Barnes and Noble, which was absolutely mind-blowing.

 

I smiled the rest of the day.

Tuesday, my actual release date, was actually kind of anti-climactic! My readings were scheduled later in the week, and since it was already kind of out there wasn’t much hullabaloo that day. But hubs brought me flowers and we ordered chinese, so all in all it was a good day.

Then came Wednesday night, the night I had been nervous about for a month, when I had a live interview on the local news, Channel 3’s WCAX. I’m a behind-the-computer type of person, not a TV kind of person. So after that, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders so I could just enjoy the rest of the week!

Thursday was a Big Night – my first reading and signing at Phoenix Books in downtown Burlington. Tod was so organized and great about introducing me, and so many friends, family, and book club members (and even 3 people who didn’t know me at all) came to hear me read. It was my first time reading my book aloud to people, so I was a little nervous and I think I could have held the book higher and been a little less shaky, but otherwise it went well. I got some great questions about the writing process, and what was the most fun was the signing! I got to talk to each person individually and thank them for coming and for buying the book, and that was awesome.

Afterwards, I went out with some friends to a delicious dinner and mixed actual champagne with the champagne of beers, and regretted it the following day. Especially when I tried to make cookies and, being impatient, sliced a cold stick of butter with a knife angled into my hand. Spent a little time at Urgent Care getting a couple stitches. Fun.

Saturday was a big day, too, perhaps the one I’d been looking forward to the most! I had my reading at the Eloquent Page in St. Albans. Friends and Other Liars is set in a fictional Vermont town called Chatwick, but everyone knows it’s largely based on St. Albans, so I thought it only fitting that I do a reading there as well. It was a totally different vibe, as I was sitting in a chair and others were surrounding me in a circle. The place was packed with friends and family, my “crew,” my Physical Therapist (no joke), and even an old English and Drama teacher who learned about the reading from the paper!

After that, it was time to party! Props to my husband and parents, who went to a lot of trouble to throw a celebration at Twiggs with my closest peeps. First of all, the CAKE!

But most of all, the PEOPLE!

We drank and ate and laughed into the late hours of the night (which, at this point in my life, was midnight). The next day I was, predictably, worthless.

So that’s my summary of Release Week. Thank you to everyone who sent supportive messages, flowers, and gifts; who attended an event; who bought the book; and who generally have made these big moments in my life so special!