Stay With Me Launch Edition
Stalking the Amish Baby
My release day leisure-time fun consisted solely of clicking the refresh icon in my browser and watching as my ebook ratings bobbed up and down. To make it interesting, I set my sights on overcoming a variety of Amish romances blocking my path to the top. My Facebook status that day said it best:
“My goal for the day: To catch and surpass Amish Baby Surprise in the Inspirational Religious Fiction category. Maybe even catch The Amish Nanny. My Harley-riding hero and his girlfriend are being smothered by 50 Shades of Hay.”
The Facebook Launch Party
Thanks to a good turnout and some good sports, my Facebook Launch Party was loads of fun. I’m highly impressed at the number of my friends who can produce pictures of themselves alongside men wearing cassocks on such short notice. (Really. Scroll through the Selfie Share thread and look at the photos.)
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The Blog Tour
The Virtual Book Tour commenced on launch day and lasted ten days. I so enjoyed reading what my hosts and hostesses wrote about Stay With Me. The interviews were fun, the guest host spots were much appreciated, and the reviews were humbling – in a good way.
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The Fever
To keep things real and ensure proper humility, 3/4 of my children had fevers on and around lunch day. The culprit was a virus that left the kids with a cough. All in all, not a big deal, save for 106.1-degree midnight fever that had me laying cool wash cloths on my daughter’s head and immersing her in a lukewarm bath. Thankfully, those remedies were effective in bringing her temperature down. Nothing like a little scare to put things in their proper perspective and remind me that I’m a mom first and foremost.
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The Importance of Pen Selection
Signing a book seems like a simple task until you actually go to do it. I scoured the web for what to write and what kind of pen to use. In the end, I would up with a blue, fine-tip, permanent, acid-free Sharpie. Still searching for a catchy phrase to go along with my signature. Right now, “Blessings,” is going to have to cut it.
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The Real-Life Launch Party
With my friend Michelle’s help, we hosted a small but fun Family Hike/Launch Party at a local park. The fall weather was perfect, and the kids enjoyed a nature scavenger hunt. The novel’s playlist served as musical accompaniment and several homemade baked goods mentioned in the book provided the snack. As a bonus, we launched a monarch butterfly that had emerged from its chrysalis that morning. Oh, the symbolism.
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Lives of Their Own
The greatest fun for me, as I wrote in a message to those who had so kindly agreed to post reviews of the book, is that characters who for so long lived only in my imagination now exist in the imaginations of other people as well. It’s as if they now have lives of their own.
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50 Shades of Hay ftw
I just learned the term “bonnet rippers.” That’s pretty good, too.
Deep down inside, I call TOB romance “mantilla rippers,” even though it’s more funny than accurate.
Love it! Now I have to work a mantilla into my NANO novel . . .
I will think less of you if you don’t.
That. Is. Awesome.
Congrats you did it!! Thanks for the view in to what it looked like to launch the book. I am going to go check it out now.
Thank you, Amy!