So, last night my friends Hillary and Amy joined me in Bethesda for a book signing. Now this wasn’t just any book signing. It was the publishing day for my new/old friend Sarah Pekkanen and her novel, The Opposite of Me. Sarah reminded me that it was twenty-one months ago when she first contacted me via e-mail, while Hubby and I were still in Okinawa. She asked me to please check out her new website for her upcoming book and tell her what I thought and if it needed any changes. Me!?! Who was I to tell and author what to do with her website?! Well, I did and I learned that Sarah lived in Chevy Chase, MD and she was writing a work of women’s fiction. Her website was really cool with chocolate and cotton candy pink hues and witty writing that made me laugh. I signed up for her monthly newsletter that provided updates on her writing and her life.
We kept in touch throughout the months so when I decided to fly to DC for one of my best friend’s wedding in November of 2008 I asked her if we could get together for coffee while I was in town. Sarah agreed to the get together but her baby had other plans. He decided he wanted to join the world at the beginning of that week so we didn’t get that original opportunity. Let me tell you folks something. Better late than never! Last night we finally had the wonderful pleasure of meeting each other for the first time at Sarah’s book signing/reading/Q&A event at her neighborhood Barnes & Noble Bookstore.
After the event she invited everyone to join her at a local watering hole across the street for chocolate-tinis (not my drink so I had a chocolate milkshake). I am so glad we did! Hillary, Amy and I got to hang out and talk with Sarah and her charming husband Glenn for over an hour total. We talked about why Sarah’s book, being a brand new first release, wasn’t in hardcover (her publisher proposed that with the recession in place it would be better to make the price of the book cheaper), how she felt nervous but welcomed by her family and friends at her first event, how grateful both Sarah and Glenn are to famed author Jennifer Weiner for her support throughout the publishing process (they have the same editor) and numerous other things that helped us all get to know each other.
The evening was a special and memorable one that I will never forget. I am so grateful to be a book blogger/reviewer because of moments like these when the huge gap the reader sometimes feels between themself and the author dissolves and a friendship is born. I am one lucky lady and wouldn’t change a thing about any of it.
{Thanks to Hillary aka Library Love for granting me permission to post her beautiful pics!}
Planet Books 