Book Launch Party

 

This was the big day when we launched my first book, Return to Sleeping Bear.

 

 

We had it at Mayn St. Flowers and Gifts in Montrose, Michigan; my home town.

 

 

 

This is my cousin Maryann, the owner of Mayn St. Flowers and Gifts, who was kind enough to host my party.

 

 

 

I was so excited that my Aunt Delores, Maryann’s mom, was able to come. She’s always been special to me.

 

 

 

Delores is hugging Barb, one of our friends from church.

 

 

 

We had a fun, busy day. It was perfect.

 

 

 

People were actually coming to get my book and autograph. That was an amazing experience.

 

 

 

Maryann and her employees, Mandi and Chris, rearranged the store on the inside to make room for everything. You can see the wind chimes they displayed outside to give us more space.

 

 

 

This is Pam, a friend of mine.

 

 

 

Mary, a friend and former boss of mine, stopped in.

 

 

 

They had everything displayed beautifully.

 

 

This is the display for entering the drawing. One of the prizes was the Sleeping Bear Dunes mug, tote bag and a copy of my book.

 

 

 

Didn’t they do a beautiful job with the displays?

 

 

 

I’m hard at work, signing my little heart out!

 

 

 

Punch, coffee, water, wraps, veggies, meat and fruit were available for snacking.

 

 

 

Mandi did a great job with the food; looked and tasted great!

 

 

 

There was lots of hugging!

 

 

This is another friend, Linda, who stopped in and helped for a while.

 

 

 

These cousins (Barb, Marjorie and Delores) enjoyed visiting with each other.

 

 

 

Barb’s hugging her book tight. Don’t you dare try to take it from her!

 

 

 

These are my sisters, Terri and Julie, with my niece Becky in front of them.

 

 

 

More hugs!

 

 

 

This is Brenda and I’m assuming those are her nieces with her.

 

 

 

Nancy, a friend and former co-worker of mine, stopped in.

 

 

 

You can’t see their faces, but Brian and Shay from my old writer’s group came to purchase a copy of my book.

 

 

 

I’m with my niece Becky and her daughter, Summer.

 

 

The two Mary’s.

 

 

My friend, Pam, is next in line.

 

 

 

Hanging out and enjoying the conversation.

 

 

 

Punch time. She deserves a break. Maryann worked hard!

 

 

 

There was a constant flow of people, but it never got too crowded. It was perfect.

 

 

 

Montrose is a friendly town where it’s common to run into people you know. Actually, Montrose is a city now, but I think of it as a town still because it has that friendly, down home feel to it.

 

 

 

More hugs.

 

 

 

That’s Becky, Nicole, Nathan and my sister-in-law Amy. Amy drove three hours to be here and support me!

 

 

 

I enjoyed chatting with everyone.

 

 

 

Delores, Julie, me and Willo.

 

 

 

Mingle. Mingle. I actually found some time to get up and mingle.

 

 

 

One… Two… Three… Hug!!!

 

 

My friend Linda is greeting Pastor Lindke, Maddy and Mary Beth.

 

 

 

This is Amy; one of the sweetest people I know.

 

 

 

As usual, my friend Debi was there helping me. I was talking to Barb, with Willo on deck.

 

 

 

Of course Amy gets a hug!

 

 

 

At times there was a line. I was so amazed at all the support I received. At the back of the line were friends I worked with at the bank, Kim and Nancy.

 

 

 

 

This is my family. Connie, Julie, Wayne, me, DJ, Nicole, Bob, Terri, Sharon, Delores and Maryann. Amy, where are you? She must have started her long trip home. Connie, to the far left, drove from Pennsylvania just to be at my book launch! She wins the longest distance prize. She got a free pen! (Sorry, didn’t think of having a longest distance prize)

 

 

 

Hmmm. The conversations must have been shocking at times! Sorry I missed it!

 

 

 

Terri is chatting with Chris who is one of the ladies that helped set things up. I don’t think I have a picture of Mandi because she was busy taking the pictures for me. Shoot!

 

 

 

 

My good friend Donna is waiting next in line with another friend, Lorraine, right behind her. At the end is Brian and Shay. Brian was in charge of our writers group, Yeah Write, and I remember him saying he liked my title because a sleeping bear suggested danger that was about to be awakened. I love that analogy!

 

 

 

Such a beautiful display!

 

 

 

This display was done by Chris.

 

 

 

That’s Willo with her grandson.

 

 

 

I think everyone was having fun.

 

 

 

I’m soooo hard at work. It was awful. Not!

 

 

 

My sister Julie drove a couple hours to share this experience with me.

 

 

 

My cousin Edye. It was nice seeing her!

 

 

 

It’s getting crowded! Actually, it was perfect. It was small enough to be cozy and big enough for everyone to mingle.

 

 

 

Me and my friend Marie. She was the first to arrive!

 

 

 

Hi Rose! Good to see you!

 

 

 

That’s my friend and co-worker, Debbie, next to us while I got ready to draw the winners. It was a little after 2:00 pm when the party was supposed to end. We were having so much fun it went a little over.

 

 

 

Sharon won the trip for two on an evening sail on the Manitou in Traverse City. Suzy won a flower arrangement and Tony won the Sleeping Bear Dunes mug, tote bag and a copy of my book.

 

It was a great day and I am feeling like one blessed lady right now to have such wonderful people in my life. Love – and hugs – to you all!