An Eventful Event

Last night we held a launch event for book two of Table Titans Club at Brick and Mortar Books, a wonderful indie bookseller in Redmond, Washington. This is the second book launch I’ve held at the store, as they helped usher book one of Table Titans into the world two years ago.

That first event was very special because some of our closest friends from out of town surprised us by secretly flying in and showing up unannounced. Danny, Liz, and Eric are those rare friends you meet first online, but then cross over. Friends with whom you share memories from worlds both real and imagined.

Two years have passed since that first book launch. In that time, we lost Danny. It’s not fair, and it’s going to hurt for a long time, but I am so thankful for the time we spent together.

I told Angela that I felt bittersweet about the signing. That I’d be looking at the door, hoping against the impossibility that Danny would walk in. That I was going to let myself miss my friends and invite in that grief so I could have them present.

Liz had texted me that morning. She congratulated me on the launch of book two and apologized that she couldn’t be there this time. I wanted to text back how I felt, but I chickened out and just texted “Thanks, Liz.”

Rachel, events manager at the store, suggested I come in early as there was a substantial pile of online book orders for me to personalize (thank you to everyone out of town who picked up a copy through the store; it means a lot).

Angela and I arrived two hours early, and they had a table all set up. We walked around a bit first, since we can never leave a bookstore empty-handed. Then I sat down and got to work signing.

I was four books in when I spotted Eric. It didn’t register at first. He was casually looking at the wall of greeting cards next to me. Even though I was staring right at his face, my brain wasn’t processing what it was seeing. It wasn’t until Liz poked her head out from behind him that everything clicked, and I almost fell out of my chair.

It was a tearful reunion (thank you, Rachel, for the tissues), followed by a well-attended signing. This time, Angela was in on the surprise and helped orchestrate. Eric joked that for book three, the surprise would have to be them NOT showing up. I didn’t like that idea, so we decided instead we would all be in on it next time. Pick and place and meet up. Maybe Hawaii?

So now I have another reason to keep making books.

Thank you to everyone who came to the signing last night. It was great to see the familiar faces of my local friends who came to show their support. Even more wonderful was meeting all the young readers new to my work, excited for the next installment of Table Titans Club. I loved talking to you and answering your questions.

Thank you to the staff of Brick and Mortar Books for being such amazing hosts. Your store feels like home to us.

I’m going to spend the next couple of days with my friends, and then I need to get back to work on book three.

Huzzah!