Tag Archives: Washington County Pet Expo

Washington County Pet Expo

November may be a novel writing month for lots of aspiring and professional writers out there, but for me it is promote-my-book month…okay, and maybe some writing in there too. That’s not to say that I have anything against the NANOWRIMO trend, but with the holidays and fall book events November is not a great time for focusing specifically on writing 50,000 words for most authors I know. There is also a JANOWRIMO group. That sounds much more realistic!

I will be putting in my own mini-writing push the week of November 16th. Since I have a booth at the Arkansas Reading Association Literacy Conference in Little Rock on November 20th – 21st, I am taking that week to hide out in a time-share condo and finish my first draft of “Max’s Wild Night.” Some of those days are full of conference work and prep, but I should be able to put in at least four days of 6,000 – 7,000 word counts. That should get me at least close to that goal if not crossing the first draft finish line. Doing something like this last year was how I finished up “Vacation Hiro,” and that kind of isolation and writing seems to work best for me.

For this post it also seems appropriate to comment on the Veteran’s Day Holiday at least a bit. My family has a long and proud history of serving our country’s military, all the way back to the American Revolution. Yes, I qualify for DAR status and have family members who have devoted huge chunks of their time to supporting that group’s goals. Maybe I’ll get more involved someday since there is an active group here in Eureka Springs. My grandfather served in WWI, my father in WWII, and both of my nephews are currently on active duty and have served several tours overseas in nasty conflict areas. They have earned having their feet on American soil this year.

Patrick Errett Welch, WWII

Patrick Errett Welch, WWII

If you know of a soldier who is struggling with PTSD, be sure to check out the work of my author friend Pamela Foster. What she has learned through caring for her husband can help families working their way through the same issues. Some of her books are hilarious, but others are serious and face the issue head-on. Highly recommend.

On Saturday, November 8, we took part in the Washington Country Pet Expo to support low cost vaccinations, micro-chipping, spay/neuter options, and pet adoptions from the local animal shelter.

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“Leia” helped me man the booth, but she mostly wanted to see the cute animals that were everywhere.

We quickly realized that this event was a terrible fit for selling books. First, all of the cats and their people were brought in a side door and scooted back out that way. Great for the cats to avoid the crazy room full of anxious dogs, but terrible for us hoping to share our alien rescue cat books with them. Second, every “vendor” there was basically giving away services. The crowd did not come to buy. We had some lovely chats with the people there and had a great time dog watching, but that’s about it. Wrong choices like that happen when you are exploring new territory, so we just enjoyed the adventure. Consider the table fee a worthwhile donation to a great event, the day a fun time spent visiting with family, and move along with the month.

Rescue Family Photo

I created this especially for this event, and it certainly led to many conversations about the joys of rescuing animals from shelters and from the streets.

Our "granddoggie" came to be micro-chipped. Dottie is a rescue from Oklahoma and is beyond sweet.

Our “granddoggie” came to be micro-chipped. Dottie is a rescue from Oklahoma and is beyond sweet.

This little doxie was ready to run the show for the book the city set up. Woof, Woof!

This little doxie was ready to run the show for the booth the city set up. Woof, Woof!

Ziggy kept us entertained all afternoon at the book for XXXXX. He even got a puppy tattoo!

Ziggy kept us entertained all afternoon at the booth for the Canine Design Studio. He even got a puppy tattoo! He was especially talented at sneaking out from under their table cloth to sniff passing puppy bottoms and then slinking back unseen. Silly Ziggy.

In the next two days, I will be putting together my quarterly newsletter so I can send it out before my trip to Little Rock. If you don’t subscribe to it, you should! I only put out four a year with maybe one or two extra quick ones if there is something extra special going on. You can subscribe in the sidebar here at my website. Easy peasy!

On the reading front, I am LOVING “A Snicker of Magic” by Natalie Lloyd. It is just purely delightful, and I highly recommend it. I’ll post more later once I have finished and done an amazon.com review. Readers who love a book should ALWAYS share that love on amazon.com!

I hope everyone across the country has warm coats ready to go. Here’s to hoping that you avoid the early snow and stay warm and cozy while the arctic blast whooshes its way through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

War Eagle Fall Craft Fair 2014 & Greenwood Writer’s Event

We had such a blast at the War Eagle Fall Craft Fair 2014! For four days (Oct. 16-19), a sea of humanity flowed past, and we sold more books per day than any other event we have ever done. Dozens of happy new readers signed up for my quarterly newsletter, and we had fun trying to keep track of how many people enjoyed my newest book title. About every 10 minutes someone would say “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge” and laugh as they went by. Glad to know they appreciated it, even if it wasn’t a book for them. There are apparently a whole lot of Miss Fatty Cat’s out there.

141016_0002It was sooo cold in the morning, and we had to get set up before the sun for the 8:00 am opening time. We could see our breath every day until 10:00 am! This photo is only day one. The next three days I was better equipped with a warmer coat, hat, scarf, and gloves. Brrr. Probably because of the chill, traffic was a bit slow first thing in the morning, but we stuck it out for the thousands of people who came later in the day. Scott found it funny that we sold a set of books on the first day before we were even set up and sold a set of books at the last minute on the last day as we were just getting ready to close up shop. You never know when that perfect buyer will wander by!

What was especially interesting at this event was how many people bought the whole set without reading a word. I give my fantastic cover designer, Lesley Hollinger Vernon, credit for that. The covers got folks attention and got them to stop and find out more. Yay! I lost track of how many bookmarks we gave out so shoppers could download the kindle version. The response was just overwhelmingly positive.

A couple of fun moments:

*one young woman stopped at the sign, squealed, and clapped her hands over her mouth because she was so excited by the books. She bought a full set.

*a second grade girl read a page out loud to her mom to do the “five finger” test and see if she could read it to herself. She did pretty well, and just got hung up on a couple of words. I had hoped to start at a 2nd/3rd grade reading level, so it was a delight to see I was right on target. You know, I don’t even remember if she bought a book. I was still pleased as punch to hear her reading it.

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This is the event this sign was actually created for, and it did its job 100% by getting folks to stop and read and pay attention to what we had to offer. A huge part of a fair like this is just getting the throngs of people to even notice your booth.

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We had a great location on the first aisle across from the bridge. This is a low traffic moment when I could actually step out and get a photo. All day, each day, throngs of people crossed the bridge between the three sections. Honestly, if you are just shopping, you think it’s all one big event.

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Across from our booth was a caricature artist named Dorinda, and when traffic was slow we enjoyed watching her create little works of art in just a few minutes. The reactions of the people getting them were priceless. What a great way to use your talent to bring some joy into the world! Also across the aisle was Regina Smith, a folk artist from Eureka Springs that we had never met. She left us with some bling for our booth, and Hiro’s travel rep thought it was the perfect vantage point to watch the crowds.

I made her spin when I got a little bored.

I made her spin when I got a little bored.

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Hiro thought it was much scarier than what Daddy did with her when he got bored.

141019_0010We were also just around the corner from the big food vendor section and had more food at the end of our row. It was perfect because nearly everyone gets some fair treats while they are there. We waited until the last day to indulge, which was good because I would have wanted more each day if I’d started out that way. On Sunday, Scott and I split a gyro and spanakopita. There was also the required meat on a stick, which was fantastic.

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Okay, this was an early morning snack, not really lunch, and I was still freezing. Honey teriyaki chicken. Yum.

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I’m beyond glad I waited until the very end of the last day to get a funnel cake, which they were selling at the end of our row with far too easy access. It was amazing, even though we were both covered with powdered sugar when it was gone.

The War Eagle Fall Craft Fair was well worth the time and energy that it took, and we are looking forward to being back again in the spring with one new book and next fall with one more new book!

Because there’s never a dull weekend in the fall, just last Saturday (Oct. 25) we were part of the Greenwood, Arkansas Writers Unite Event benefiting Autism Speaks. There were 14 student authors who had put together a book of their stories, “Helping Hands: Volume 1,” and the mayor came to give out awards for the overall winners.

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My spot was right next to my OWL and OCW friend Dusty Richards, and there were about 10 authors there overall.

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Dusty got his first photo op with Kimba and Hiro’s travel reps, and he pretended to be a bit startled. I think he has seen those stuffed cats a few times over the last couple of years.

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On my other side was a new author friend, Cal Davis, and his adorable picture book “I’m Just a Crow.”  Cal ingratiated himself to me forever by passing on his raffle win: a kindle case with cats on it. After determining that it was not quite his style, he shared it with me because, let’s face it, most anything with cats on it is exactly my style. I am even expecting a kindle for Christmas, so it’s a perfect gift.

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I’m grateful that the next couple of weeks are a bit calmer than the rest of the fall has been. We have a wedding here at the guest house, and there are a couple more book events ahead. Next up is the Washington County Pet Expo on November 8th. But I can see the winter and hours of quiet writing time on the horizon. Enjoy these last beautiful fall days!