Author Topic: Book Signings anyone?  (Read 19656 times)

Becke Davis

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Re: Book Signings anyone?
« Reply #15 on: December 14, 2019, 04:45:24 pm »
I drove up to Barrington Books Retold Friday night for the official launch of the 50th Murder, She Wrote novel 'A Time For Murder' with author Jon Land.

For anyone that doesn't know, he's one of my favorite authors with his many and varied thriller series. And he's done a wonderful job building upon the Murder, She Wrote canon with the four books he's written so far in the series.

I brought a few of his books that I hadn't yet had signed and talked with Jon for a little bit as he inscribed them. Learned some interesting news about the plans for the next couple of books in the series. I even managed to find a copy of his horror thriller 'Dark Light Dawn' on the store shelves. (It's a book I hadn't been able to get until tonight.) And I asked my traditional "Are you ever going to write another book in the Ben Kamal / Danielle Barnea series?" question.

Jon even inquired as to whether or not I was still writing for Mystery Scene. When someone else asked a question about his writing process, his answer to that question prompted him to ask me how I go about writing my reviews. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think that was kind of cool of him to do.

All in all, it was another great book signing event and once again reconfirmed why Jon is at the top of my Must-Read list.

Wow, that was a memorable book signing for you - quite an adventure! How cool that he remembered you, and good for the bookstore for stocking a hard-to-find book. Do you find out about the signings from author newsletters or from book store announcements?

When I lived in Chicago, one of the best places for booksignings was Anderson's Books in Naperville. In Cincinnati, it was Josephbeth Booksellers. In Portland, it's Powell's Bookstore. There are several bookstores in Eugene, where I live, but I haven't been to any signings as yet.

JRob

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Re: Book Signings anyone?
« Reply #16 on: December 14, 2019, 09:10:17 pm »


Wow, that was a memorable book signing for you - quite an adventure! How cool that he remembered you, and good for the bookstore for stocking a hard-to-find book. Do you find out about the signings from author newsletters or from book store announcements?

I find out about them in a variety of ways. Author announcements on their Facebook pages or their events page on their websites. Store announcements, library announcements, etc.

Becke Davis

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Re: Book Signings anyone?
« Reply #17 on: December 15, 2019, 12:37:33 am »


Wow, that was a memorable book signing for you - quite an adventure! How cool that he remembered you, and good for the bookstore for stocking a hard-to-find book. Do you find out about the signings from author newsletters or from book store announcements?

I find out about them in a variety of ways. Author announcements on their Facebook pages or their events page on their websites. Store announcements, library announcements, etc.

Thanks!

JRob

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Re: Book Signings anyone?
« Reply #18 on: February 22, 2020, 02:13:13 pm »
Today was one of the rare good days for me. I drove up to the New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton Upper Falls for the book launch event being put on for mystery author Bruce Robert Coffin's WITHIN PLAIN SIGHT. It's the fourth book in his Detective John Byron series. I'm a latecomer to the series but reading about it made it one that I HAD to read. And what's better than having a signed copy of the book you are going to be reading?

The event started off with a quick reading (the opening scene) from the new book. Coffin then opened the floor up to questions where he answered what was asked and related stories that tied into those questions and answers. Pretty engaging talk really. It's not often that I've gotten to read books about homicide investigators by someone who quite literally was that very thing before beginning a writing career.

Now, typically that is enough of a thing to make it a good day but what put this day over the top for me was how it relates to my desire to someday attend a book convention/conference. It's not in the cards for me to do so at this point in time but this afternoon I did get a little taste of that because the audience was made up not only of fans of Bruce Robert Coffin but there were a number of other authors there as well.

There was the always fantastic Hank Phillippi Ryan, who never fails to amaze me with her generosity. Hank rocks, plain and simple!

Hallie Touger/ Hallie Ephron was there too! She's doing an event at the Wareham Free Library in a couple of months and graciously made suggestions for the book clubs since both the mystery and fiction clubs will be reading one of her books leading up to the event.

I was happily surprised to see Joanna Schaffhausen in attendance too! I wish I'd known that she was going to be there because I would've brought my copy of her new book, ALL THE BEST LIES, to have signed. Seriously, if you want to read a (excuse the poor rhyme scheme) killer thriller, you should check out both THE VANISHING SEASON and NO MERCY, the first two books in the Ellery Hathaway series. They are AWESOME and I can't say enough about them. I'm about to dig into the new one which I'm sure is going to maintain the high level of love I feel for the series.

And then I briefly talked to Edwin Hill, the author of LITTLE COMFORT and THE MISSING ONES. I'd missed a chance to be at one of his signings down on the Cape last year so I took advantage of the opportunity and now have a signed copy of THE MISSING ONES.

Last but not least, I spent a few minutes talking to author Dale T. Phillips. He writes a number of things but most notably there is his Zack Taylor mystery series. It was a pretty interesting chat and it ended with him gifting me with a copy of the first book in the series, which I'll be pushing somewhere close to the top of my TBR pile so that I can become more familiar with his work

For an enthusiastic fan of all kinds of fictional murderers and those who create these tales that I love so much, it doesn't get much better than a day like today.

Becke Davis

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Re: Book Signings anyone?
« Reply #19 on: February 23, 2020, 10:33:20 am »
Today was one of the rare good days for me. I drove up to the New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton Upper Falls for the book launch event being put on for mystery author Bruce Robert Coffin's WITHIN PLAIN SIGHT. It's the fourth book in his Detective John Byron series. I'm a latecomer to the series but reading about it made it one that I HAD to read. And what's better than having a signed copy of the book you are going to be reading?

The event started off with a quick reading (the opening scene) from the new book. Coffin then opened the floor up to questions where he answered what was asked and related stories that tied into those questions and answers. Pretty engaging talk really. It's not often that I've gotten to read books about homicide investigators by someone who quite literally was that very thing before beginning a writing career.

Now, typically that is enough of a thing to make it a good day but what put this day over the top for me was how it relates to my desire to someday attend a book convention/conference. It's not in the cards for me to do so at this point in time but this afternoon I did get a little taste of that because the audience was made up not only of fans of Bruce Robert Coffin but there were a number of other authors there as well.

There was the always fantastic Hank Phillippi Ryan, who never fails to amaze me with her generosity. Hank rocks, plain and simple!

Hallie Touger/ Hallie Ephron was there too! She's doing an event at the Wareham Free Library in a couple of months and graciously made suggestions for the book clubs since both the mystery and fiction clubs will be reading one of her books leading up to the event.

I was happily surprised to see Joanna Schaffhausen in attendance too! I wish I'd known that she was going to be there because I would've brought my copy of her new book, ALL THE BEST LIES, to have signed. Seriously, if you want to read a (excuse the poor rhyme scheme) killer thriller, you should check out both THE VANISHING SEASON and NO MERCY, the first two books in the Ellery Hathaway series. They are AWESOME and I can't say enough about them. I'm about to dig into the new one which I'm sure is going to maintain the high level of love I feel for the series.

And then I briefly talked to Edwin Hill, the author of LITTLE COMFORT and THE MISSING ONES. I'd missed a chance to be at one of his signings down on the Cape last year so I took advantage of the opportunity and now have a signed copy of THE MISSING ONES.

Last but not least, I spent a few minutes talking to author Dale T. Phillips. He writes a number of things but most notably there is his Zack Taylor mystery series. It was a pretty interesting chat and it ended with him gifting me with a copy of the first book in the series, which I'll be pushing somewhere close to the top of my TBR pile so that I can become more familiar with his work

For an enthusiastic fan of all kinds of fictional murderers and those who create these tales that I love so much, it doesn't get much better than a day like today.

Wow! What a windfall of authors that signing turned out to be! I've met the fabulous Hank Phillippi Ryan several times and I've read all her books - she has won so many Emmys, I've lost count. Her books are getting nominated for lost of awards, too. I met Hallie at a conference several years ago and I've read a couple of her books and enjoyed them! I think it's interesting that her website describes her books as "domestic thrillers."

Once again I've added a bunch of authors to my wish list after reading your post. Glad you had such an exciting day - what fun!

JRob

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Re: Book Signings anyone?
« Reply #20 on: February 23, 2020, 10:53:04 am »
Like I said, I already bought my copy of the new Joanna Schaffhausen book. But I'm probably going to buy a 2nd copy and have that signed as well in order to give as a gift to someone this Christmas.

Becke Davis

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Re: Book Signings anyone?
« Reply #21 on: February 23, 2020, 11:02:42 pm »
Like I said, I already bought my copy of the new Joanna Schaffhausen book. But I'm probably going to buy a 2nd copy and have that signed as well in order to give as a gift to someone this Christmas.

I just been checking out her website. These books look pretty dark. I'm always hesitant with gruesome stories, even though I do read a lot of thrillers. What were your favorite books of hers? Did you review any of them?

JRob

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Re: Book Signings anyone?
« Reply #22 on: February 24, 2020, 06:31:32 pm »
They are darker thrillers to be sure. I didn't review them for Mystery Scene but when I read them after buying that at a library signing event she did, I wrote reviews up on Goodreads.

They were spectacular reads in my opinion. I spotlighted both of them as part of my entry into the new Mystery Scene issue's Fave Raves article as well.

Becke Davis

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Re: Book Signings anyone?
« Reply #23 on: February 27, 2020, 12:24:02 am »
They are darker thrillers to be sure. I didn't review them for Mystery Scene but when I read them after buying that at a library signing event she did, I wrote reviews up on Goodreads.

They were spectacular reads in my opinion. I spotlighted both of them as part of my entry into the new Mystery Scene issue's Fave Raves article as well.

I just got my new issue of Mystery Scene. I've only skimmed it so far - I probably won't get to go through it cover to cover until the weekend.

Kate Stine, Editor

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Re: Book Signings anyone?
« Reply #24 on: February 27, 2020, 08:11:49 am »
Your wide-ranging tastes and enthusiasm are two reasons we're so happy to have you as a reviewer, Jay. And thanks again for taking part in the "Fave Raves of 2019" article -- one of my favorites ever year.

JRob

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Re: Book Signings anyone?
« Reply #25 on: February 27, 2020, 06:56:36 pm »
Your wide-ranging tastes and enthusiasm are two reasons we're so happy to have you as a reviewer, Jay. And thanks again for taking part in the "Fave Raves of 2019" article -- one of my favorites ever year.

Thanks Kate, I try to do the best job I can and it helps that Teri is a fantastic editor too.

By the way, the authors I featured in my part of the Fave Raves really appreciated their inclusion. I heard from every one of them via one form of social media or another.

It's funny that I have AND show this kind of enthusiasm since I am normally the "leave me the hell alone" kind of guy. LOL.

And here I am with author Bruce Robert Coffin in the background.

« Last Edit: February 27, 2020, 07:01:49 pm by JRob »

Becke Davis

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Re: Book Signings anyone?
« Reply #26 on: February 29, 2020, 01:27:58 am »
Your wide-ranging tastes and enthusiasm are two reasons we're so happy to have you as a reviewer, Jay. And thanks again for taking part in the "Fave Raves of 2019" article -- one of my favorites ever year.

Thanks Kate, I try to do the best job I can and it helps that Teri is a fantastic editor too.

By the way, the authors I featured in my part of the Fave Raves really appreciated their inclusion. I heard from every one of them via one form of social media or another.

It's funny that I have AND show this kind of enthusiasm since I am normally the "leave me the hell alone" kind of guy. LOL.

And here I am with author Bruce Robert Coffin in the background.



Very cool!

CarlaZ

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Re: Book Signings anyone?
« Reply #27 on: March 31, 2020, 02:34:15 pm »
I see that The Poisoned Pen Bookshop in Scottsdale, Arizona is still open for curbside delivery and mail order. I was checking out their website and saw a whole slew of online interview coming up on their Facebook page. April 1 - Matthew Quirk, April 6 - Don Winslow, April 7 - Julia Spencer-Fleming. Other authors include Dean Koontz, CS Harris, Jack Carr, Cara Black, John Sandford and DJ Palmer. And that's just the first two weeks of April!

Poisoned Pen is one of the best bookstores around and you'll find lots of other interesting things at their website including a Crime Collector's Club, a First Mystery Club, British Crime Club, etc.

https://poisonedpen.com/

I'm trying to send my business to indy bookstores during the pandemic. Hopefully they'll still be there when we can all get out and about again!

JRob

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Re: Book Signings anyone?
« Reply #28 on: March 31, 2020, 07:20:43 pm »
Thanks for the info Carla, I'll have to try to check out some of those interviews with the authors I read and love.