On Tuesday, November 28, 2017 I got to celebrate the culmination of a dream. My first book, THE PLOT IS MURDER, was released by Kensington Books. The process was long and complicated. As I was running around trying to take care of last minute details, the old saying kept running through my head; “It takes a Village to Raise a Child.” I don’t have children so I can’t attest to the accuracy of this statement, but I can tell you it takes a virtual army to get a book published.
The journey to get THE PLOT IS MURDER published started over eighteen months ago. I’m going to skip the months it took me to write the book and start from signing the contract with Kensington. The offer for my book came on April 20, 2016. From that date until November 28, 2017 there were an army of people who worked to make this dream of publication a reality. From countless rounds of edits/copy edits/galley edits to the final print and shipping this book has passed through a tons of hands. Thank you to Dawn Dowdle, my agent at Blue Ridge Literary to everyone at Kensington Books who made this possible, especially my editor, John Scognamiglio, Publicist Michelle Addo, Production Editor, Paula Reedy and her fantastic team.
I chose to celebrate this milestone by having a book release/book signing at my local Barnes & Noble. Several months ago I attended a workshop offered by the Community Business Manager, Kelly Flemings, for new authors. Kelly has proved to be an invaluable resource and a wonderful friend. Thanks to Kelly Flemings and the wonderful staff at the Chattanooga Barnes & Noble for all of their help and support.
My good friend, Sophia Muckerson helped me come up with great ideas for gift basket giveaways, and helped me setup. She also took pictures to document this momentous event in my life. Sophia has worked tirelessly to support me and I greatly appreciate her.
Thanks to Shona (hair stylist extraordinare), Ron and Deb Moore for getting the word out. Thanks to Kristen Lepionka for responding to my S.O.S and providing wonderful graphics and for my wonderful banner. Thank you to Kellye Garrett, author of Hollywood Homicide, for answering a billion questions and for recommending Kristen and for taking the time to interview me for Chicks on the Case. Thanks to ’17 Scribes for the tweets, shares and general support. My SHU Tribe, Dru Ann (Drusbookmusings.com), Laura Brennan (Destination Mystery), I have to thank everyone at Whirlpool Customer Experience Center (Benton Harbor and Cleveland) for all of the support. These wonderful
people worked all day, drove through traffic to Chattanooga, and purchased my book to show their support. Thank you to the Benton Harbor supporters who preordered or called in orders. Thanks to each and everyone one of you fantastic people. You guys are the reason ALLWEDOISWIN!
Finally, a special thank you to my fantastic team (Tena, Grace, Deborah, Jamie, Kristie, Jonathan, Dan, and Randy). Your gift and the amazingly spectacular handmade pen from Matt Schenck (www.facebook.com/calamusopus) were the icing on top of the cake.
I’m sure I missed someone and if so, I truly apologize. There are always tons of people who work behind the scenes in any military deployment who make missions successful but are never seen. To each and everyone who helped me, I say from the depths of my heart, THANK YOU!
