Love Is In the Air 2020

Now that we’ve been doing public appearances, we’ve fallen into a pattern. Summer’s the high time with frequent weekend events. There’s surprise events, like signings at Cupboard Maker Books. We slow down a little in the fall, and come to a halt at Small Business Saturday after Thanksgiving.

After that, there’s no events at all. Everybody’s doing Christmas and New Years. January’s cold and if we’re lucky snowy. People are paying off the bills of December, and it gives us time to refocus, reboot, fix stuff and figure out what we’re going to publish the next year.

Valentine’s day weekend is when we start up the machine. That’s when Teresa, in her Odessa Moon persona, visits Ashcombe Gardens and Greenhouse for their Love Is In the Air 2020 event. It’s a nice way to begin the year. It’s indoors, they provide a table and chair, and there’s plenty of plants to look at.

I spent most of the event in the café, snacking on Ashcombe’s sandwiches and coffee and working on projects. But I did stop and take some pictures.

While Allison B. Hanson was there, I did not get a picture of her. But I did get a shot of her suitcase on wheels that allows her to take her titles with her conveniently and securely. It was such a neat idea that I had to take a picture of it.

This was an event where I was seduced by inanimate objects. Hanson’s rolling book warehouse, and now this standup banner announcing R.A. Fisher’s first book in her fantasy trilogy. We’ve been using a banner that I have to roll and unroll, mounted to a wooden platform I built out of scrap lumber. It’s serviceable, but it’s not as cool as this portable model that can be set up and taken down quickly. It can also be carried with one hand, which is a lot easier than the three hands I need now.

Teresa set up her table in the middle of the greenhouse, and was joined by Holly Bush, Cate Tayler, and Melinda Wilson Shultz.

One of the nice things about events is the chance to talk to our fellow authors. Here, Teresa talks with Sara Walter Ellwood and Patty Taylor.

All in all, we had a decent turnout, sold of books, and spent a pleasant afternoon in the company of authors at a beautiful greenhouse.

I didn’t get everyone’s photograph, but here are the authors who attended: Natalie J. Damschroder; D.R. Grady; Sheri Queen; Misty Simon; Victoria Smith; and J.A. Whitzel.

And because I think they’re cute, here’s some hedgehogs.