If I had a nickel for every crazy thing that’s happened to me in the last three weeks, I would have lost them all in the insane whirlwind of the last month.

I am officially back from book tour, and I just got off the phone with Barnes and Noble, arranging a signing in Washington for two weeks from now. So I guess I’m not very good at ending book tours. As soon as I finish this blog post, I’m bound to go set up some last-minute gigs for next month elsewhere in the Seattle area.

I forget if I mentioned my plans to buy a hammock and a netbook when the book royalties came in, but that was the plan up until the point where my parents decided to get me a hammock and a netbook as publishing presents. Graduation (both from high school and college) was sort of a inevitable event that didn’t garner a lot of celebration (I was, after all, an English major) so this is kind of the big “WELCOME TO REAL LIFE” moment we’ve all been waiting for.

My publishers told me my release week sales were good for a debut author, and then the following week we sold almost four times as many print books on Amazon. I did a signing at Third Place Books which truthfully deserves its own post, but suffice to say we had to bring in extra chairs and we sold out of books.

My events with both Redmond and Duvall libraries went wonderfully. At Redmond I got a chance to talk to the Young Authors Club, and in Duvall the librarians facilitated a brilliant discussion across three generations about childhood and the role whimsy takes in our adult lives. The reading I got to do at my favorite art venue, The Beery House, was the biggest crowd ever. I got to open for Veronica Malki, Wonder, and the amazing Dutch accordionist, Jet Black Pearl. The Stanford Bookstore had a low turnout, but on the plus side, now I get to say I’ve spoken at Sanford University.

While in town, I met with Joan Leegant, who is the Hugo House’s current fiction Writer-in-Residence. She was a wonderful woman who gave me a lot of practical advice on marketing my book post-release. I didn’t really have a plan for that. I feel like one of those people who built their life around the idea that 2012 was going to be the end of the world. The reality that there is life beyond release day continues to astound me. One of the things she mentioned was that she did over a hundred in-person book events to promote a book of hers! So I guess I’ve got five down, ninety-five to go? The raw competitive drive I call a personality tells me I need to try to beat her record.

I’ll send a bump to the mailing list with more details and fun stuff. If you aren’t already on that, I highly recommend you sign up! I’ll yammer at you again soon on the blog too… everything is slower and better now that I’ve powered through my first book release.

IF YOU WANT TO HELP… here are a few things you can do:

1 – Request The Neverland Wars from your local library. We have a lot of copies set aside to sell to libraries, and we need people telling their local librarians that there is interest in this story!

2 – If you’re going to buy it, buy it from Barnes and Noble. They bought a lot of copies, and if they don’t sell them, they will return them. I’d love to be in Barnes and Noble’s good book as an author whose books actually sell

3 – If you have bought it and read it, POST A REVIEW! On Amazon is best, but if you can get it up on Goodreads and Barnes and Noble (or even your own blog!) that is a fantastic help

Thanks again, as always, for reading, loving, and supporting. I’m sure I’ll have more good news for you soon!