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my books

CHESS RUMBLE SCHOOL LAUNCH

Y’all know being a writer is tough no matter what stage of the game you are in. But every once in a while, something happens that makes being a writer pretty cool.

My guardian angel and fellow writer Karen Bachman organized a book launch event at Monroe Middle School here in Tampa. And let me tell you, she and her kids made me feel like a rock star. It was my first reading and in-person event, but it couldn’t have gone any better. Not only were all 120 kids great, but they had all read the book in advance.

The reading...


The rock star part. If they couldn't buy a book, they wanted autographs. As soon as someone asked me to sign their arm...



They ALL wanted me to sign their arm, T-shirt, jacket, even forehead. Pretty funny...


Taking questions. The St. Pete Times covered the event and is going to write two articles about me and the book!


First in line...


Pre-signing books. We sold over 70 copies. Even the Principle bought a stack to give to other principals in the county.


Mob scene


The Man from Downtown, Max Hutto, a dedicated reader and a good man to have in your corner. Next to him is Bart Birdsall, media specialist extraordinaire.


Even members of my book group turned out to help film, sell books, and wrangle the students. How cool is that? Sue and Molli in action.


Karen presenting me with a card signed by all the students. Pretty nice.

All-in-all, what more could you want for your first time out? This school had a special connection to the book because they acted as my focus group while I was writing it. So now they've seen it come full circle and emerge as a real-life book. A special experience for me and one an author rarely gets. 

So a rousing success and a great way to kick things off!

Now they want to read the second book...