The Chronicle (Glens Falls NY) Book Fair

The Chronicle Book Fair In Glens Falls, NY will be held at the Queensbury Hotel on the corner of Ridge and Maple Streets in downtown Glens Falls. It is on Sunday, October 14, from 11a.m. until 4p.m. Almost 120 authors will be there, including yours truly!



Come early for "coffee with the authors". Their restaurant will be open and they'll also have a "grab and go" self-serve soup and sandwich vendor on site.

I hope to meet you there! Take care. PS I'm nervous!

The Adirondack Book House Blog Radio

Well, I must say, The Adirondack Book House Blog Radio is one of the coolest things I've heard yet! The host is Pete Klein, author of The Dancing Valkyrie. This is "a vampire horror novel about an erotic dancer who becomes a vampire while hiking in the wilds of the Adirondacks". I intend to buy an autographed copy from Pete at our Inlet Book Signing this upcoming weekend. It sounds like my kind of book! Here's Pete:



Pete's radio program is every Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. Feel free to call in and talk with Pete. He's awful easy to deal with, believe me, a very nice guy. I can't wait to meet him. You can call in any Saturday beginning at 6:30 p.m. Here's the phone number: 1-646-716-8094. Call in, I'd love to talk with you!

I look forward to meeting you, Pete, and to the upcoming book signing!
Take care.

Pounding the Pavement in the Adirondacks Part 8

On Saturday, July 14th, the whole family got in the Envoy to head down to
Raquette Lake. It killed me to take the gas-loving vehicle but we couldn't fit in the hybrid with all the books, etc. We were heading down to the First Annual Festival of Life. This event was a benefit for North Country Life Flight, a non-profit air medical rescue program with headquarters at Adirondack Airport in Lake Clear. My friend, Jan Washburn, invited me and she organized the whole event. I was honored to be invited. We all loved watching the Life Flight helicopter land outside the school where the event took place.





We set our table up along with the other crafters. The event was from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and we did quite well. We sold 24 books to individuals and 10 to the Raquette Lake Navigation Company. They have daily and nightly cruises on the W. W. Durant (our protagonist is William Durant) and we could see their ship docked outside of our hotel room.



We were too tired to take a cruise but it looked like so much fun! Next time, we promised ourselves.

The next day we were off to Inlet for our next signing. We had a fantastic breakfast at the Tamarack Cafe & Movie House. Woof, we ate too much. Jim had the Lumberjack special and it was a plate FULL of heart-stopping goodies, like buscuits and gravy and sausage and toast and eggs and woof! I had an egg sandwich and we had to take a walk after that before the signing. Our signing in Inlet was at the Adirondack Reader, right on the main road. It was scheduled from 1 p.m until 3 p.m. We set up our groovy display a bit early. The father of the owner of Adirondack Reader, Reggie, took our picture. They were so nice and funny and easy to be with.



Yup, that's my little baby. Sigh. We only sold 7 books but we have been invited to Reggie's Author's fair in September so it's cool. We also gave out a lot of bookmarks so all's well that end's well. We were pretty tired on the drive back home and the kids fell asleep in the back. I fell asleep on the couch that night, exhausted. It was a good weekend!

Pounding The Pavement in the Adirondacks Part 7

I took Patty's advice and stopped at The Lake Store in Indian Lake. It's very close to Sabael, where Patty's Squaw Brook Motel is. Sure enough, Eris was nice enough to bring in six copies of the book. What a great way to start the day!

I went into Indian Lake and saw a store called Gramma's Things on Big Brook Road. The owner, Jean Turner, was a bit hesitant to bring in the book so we made a deal. I promised to not hit any other stores in Indian Lake if she took a few copies. It makes sense as it's a fairly small town. Sure enough, she took in four copies. She is so talented with quilting. It was hard to leave without buying something.



Time to move on to Raquette Lake, which is where the book takes place. I had some great tips from my friend, Jan, so I started with the Raquette Lake Supply Co. right on Main Street. Her sister, Theresa, works there. I went into the office and she greeted me as if I were family! She also brought in twelve copies of the book. Her store is amazing as there is a little bit, no a lot of, everything. I mean everything and then some.



OK, Patty's store isn't quite that big but it felt like it at the time. I also stopped at the Raquette Lake Free Library and Carolynn, the director, brought in two copies. I walked over to the Raquette Lake Navigation Company and that place is so cool! They have a caboose gift shop and urge people to "Climb Aboard the W.W. Durant", a wonderful ship which tours Raquette Lake. The protagonist in my book is William Durant. No one was there so I had to move on. I'd love to do that tour someday.



Next stop was Blue Mountain Lake and I was more than happy to see they already had the book in stock at the Adirondack Museum. I'm not much of a museum fan but this place is more than a museum. It's an entire day of fun and exploration. I love it.

On to Inlet and the Inlet Department Store. They were so psyched when they saw the book it made me blush! The owner said that the day before a tourist was in looking for a book just like it to read around a campfire. That's exactly what this book is good for. Twelve more copies sold!



I was getting pretty tired and hot at this point but I was determined to make it to Old Forge. I stopped at the Adirondack Reader bookstore on Main Street in the center of Inlet. The owner was so excited I couldn't believe it. She bought fifty (yes, 50) copies on the spot, signed us up for a book signing and invited me to her upcoming author's fair! I hit the big time!!



OK, OK, I stopped at the local wine store and bought a bottle of wine to celebrate. Sheesh, can't get away with anything on this blog. On to Old Forge. I should have stopped when the going was good but I was determined. And exhausted. I went to the Old Forge Hardware Bookstore and they reluctantly brought in ten copies. I won't go into it. I'm grateful to them for bringing the book in and I was simply too tired to sell any more books.

Not a bad day.

Old Forge Library Author's Fair...We're In!

Just as I was getting a bit discouraged because I haven't been able to peddle any books, Simon Conroy of Conroy Organics brought in 6 copies. That store is amazing, I can't leave without buying something!

In today's mail was an invitation to the Old Forge Library Author's Fair! How exciting! It's being held on Tuesday, July 24th from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Isabella Worthen, the Director of the library, was kind enough to send us the invitation. Boy did I respond to THAT quickly!

There's a writer's workshop beforehand entitled Writing What You Know from author M.E. Kemp. I can't wait for that. I've never been to a writer's workshop before. I hope I can take lots of notes. The workshop is made possible with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, The Literature Program.

After the Author's Fair, there's a concert titled All Around The Mountain by musicians Tom Akstens & Neil Rossi. I've never heard them and am really looking forward to it. I hope Nick wants to go, it'll be too long a day for Amanda. The concert is made possible with funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, The Presentation Program.

Now I'm all happy again! All of this book promoting/marketing does pay off. I just had absolutely no idea how much work it was/is. I'll have to read The Little Engine That Could over and over and over again, I guess.

Take care.

Adirondack Nightmare Wows Fifth Graders At Momot Elementary School

Well, I do believe we've hit the nail on the head! Jim, Amanda and I did a book presentation for the fifth graders at Momot Elementary School in Plattsburgh. (Thank you so much for the invitation, Mrs. Bouissey!) We started at about 1:15 p.m. and ended right before the end of the school day, about 2:30 p.m.

It was so wonderful for the kids to share their dreams with us. Nick couldn't attend because he had to go to school to get help with his English journals. He's got a lot going on at school right now and we've all agreed that school comes first for him.

There were about 60 kids and more than a handful of adults. Jim and I made a CD-rom of some of Nick's illustrations and we showed them as a part of the presentation. One of the highlights for me was when we started up the DVD portion (made by John Mitchell of Silver Lining Photography and Video (www.silverliningphotovideo.com). It was near the end of the presentation and before the Q&A part. Jim queued up the Excerpt From The Book, read by John, and I heard a young man say, "This is so cool!". My heart melted.

I'm so grateful to Momot Elementary School for allowing us to share our dreams with them and to hear their dreams. The opportunity is just beyond words.

Take care, time to post some photos from the presentation on my site. www.rebeccaleonard.com

We're In The 21st Annual Adirondack Authors Night!

This is so exciting! We've just been invited to the 21st Annual Adirondack Authors Night at Hoss's Country Corner in Long Lake! I can't begin to explain how grateful we are to Lorrie for putting our book in their store and for the invitation.

If you've never been to Hoss's Country Corner you should. They have the greatest collection of Adirondack memorabilia there is. The last time I was in there, well, let's say I didn't leave empty-handed! Tons of books, t-shirts, knick-knacks, decorations, jewelry, on and on and on.

Another really cool thing about the store is the tree which is growing up in the center of the showroom. Seriously, a real tree. It's amazing, I can't explain it well enough to give it justice. You'll have to check it out for yourself!

The Adirondack Author's Night is always the second Tuesday in August. Plan on going, it'll be a fun event. Guaranteed! Hoss's is located at 247 Lake St (it takes up a whole block) in Long Lake and their phone number is 1-800-952-4677.

Lake Forest Senior Center - Adirondack Nightmare Presentation!

Well, we're getting ready for our very first book signing and presentation. It's on Tuesday, May 8th at the Lake Forest Senior Center in Plattsburgh, NY. It should last about 40 minutes with time for questions and signings afterward. I'm a bit nervous with my left ankle, it's not healing as well as the right one did. But my kids, Nick, the illustrator of the book, and Amanda are more than enough to cheer us on. It should be fun, there'll be students from Momot school who are pen pals with some of the residents of Lake Forest.

My mom, Beth Brush, is one of the pen pal mentors there. What a wonderful program it is. Lake Forest is such a great facility and we're lucky to have it in the area.

We haven't practiced together for the presentation yet. We're all to busy! My husband, Jim, will be working the DVD player as we have a short, trailer type of DVD. I just hope we get everything set up in time. Nick will be there for "illustrator" questions and Amanda will be there to help hand things out and to put stickers on any books which will (hopefully) be sold.

Time to update the web site and rehearse for tomorrow! Take care!