Monday, May 21, 2012

I love saying "SURPRISE!"

A month or so ago, a woman named Thereasa got in touch with me to ask for the reading/discussion guide for IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES. She and her daughter, Emily, are in a mother/daughter book club and her daughter had chosen CUPCAKES for when they would be hosting the club. She told me Emily had been reading the book every night and hadn't been that excited about a book in a while. I offered to send some signed postcards, as I often do (I usually offer to send bookmarks, but I'm out and waiting for the third book cover before printing some more) so Thereasa sent me her address. Turned out she only lived about 20 minutes away from me.

At some point, Thereasa asked me if I might be willing to Skype with the group for a few minutes, and since I was free that evening, I said sure.

The day arrived, and it was a beautiful day. Sunny and warm. My husband and I took a walk with the dog in Laurelhurst Park, a lovely park in NE Portland, and had a really nice afternoon. When we got home, I was thinking more and more about the scheduled Skype visit and how the club was meeting just twenty minutes away from me. I told my husband, "I think I'm going to go and surprise them." He asked me some questions, to make sure I had really thought it through, and after answering them, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to go!

When I arrived, I walked up to the house and rang the bell. A woman answered and I asked, "Are you Thereasa?" She smiled and said, "No." She stared at me and then a hint of recognition passed over her face. "Are you the author?" I whispered, "Yes. I'm here to surprise everyone. I hope Thereasa likes surprises!"

A girl came around the corner as we walked into the house and I asked, "Are you Emily?" She gave me a big smile and said, "Yes!" I said, "Emily, I wanted to meet you! So I decided to come and see you in person instead of through the computer."

I walked into the family room where everyone was gathered, and the look on their faces was priceless. They were happy to see me and I was soon signing books and after that, answering lots and lots of questions. It was a great group of girls and moms and they made me feel so welcome.

Here are a couple of pictures from the evening.




Like I told them - writing can be a lonely job at times. Connecting with readers is one of the best parts of being an author, so as much as I wanted to make it a special evening for them, it was something I did for myself too. I knew they would remember the surprise for a long time to come, and the evening spent chatting with them would be something I would carry with me as well.

Thanks to the Moms and girls who so kindly welcomed me into their club for the evening. I had a great time and I hope you did too!!!

10 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing this Lisa. No doubt this moment will stay with these young readers and have an impact on their futures.

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  2. That is so cool! I was just invited to a book club who chose my novel, and I feel all intimidated and intrusive like.

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  3. Thanks for surprising us, Lisa. It was a great surprise and my daughter, Samantha, (middle left, with pig tails in the bottom photo) loved it! You gave the girls a memory they can talk about for many years. :)

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  4. You = Awesome!! What an incredibly cool thing to do.

    Shelley

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  5. That is bad ass. You have done your job as an author, my friend. I'm guessing you left behind a lot of very inspired girls that night.

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  6. Oh, how fun! I guarantee not one of those girls will forget the experience. :)

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  7. You are AMAZING! That is something they will remember forever. And now I'm sure they'll be even bigger fans for life. :)

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  8. That is fantastic! Look at all of those smiling girls (and moms!) with their books. And it sounds like you had just as much fun as they did. =)

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  9. What a great evening! I love connecting with readers, especially kids, they are just so darn terrific! Your pictures turned out wonderful and I'll bet everyone was simply thrilled to see you walk through the door!

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