We Had a Blast...

All photos courtesy of Paul Dudley Photography (who else?)

...after I got through my nervousness!

The talk and book-signing event at the Loft at Latitude 47.7 in Poulsbo was lots of fun last night. We started with dinner for those who wanted to arrive early, so Gregg & I met a bunch of our Camp Goodtimes West peeps and ate dinner at a long table. I left a little early to get organized in the private room that the Loft provides for Liberty Bay Books' Author's Night events. Suzanne Droppert, the owner of the bookstore, really knows her stuff. She hosted NY Times Best-Selling author Kristin Hannah at the previous event - pretty impressive, particularly for an Indie-Bound bookstore in a small town!

Liberty Bay Books' owner, Suzanne Droppert with the book's poster and me (thanks to Cami Hattick for holding this for us)

The room was packed - estimated 90+ people - and some had to stand, when the seats filled up. All of the books were sold; I'm sorry to say that a group of people had to go away empty-handed, but more books are on order now.

The Loft provided a comfy easy-chair for me, and the gas fireplace added a cozy feeling to the room. There were flowers and tealight candles in the room, with a no-host wine bar. I spoke (had to read from note cards, which I detest, but it can't be helped), read excerpts from the book, and then opened it up for questions & answers. The audience asked great questions, which brought up topics dear to my heart (Katie's Comforters Guild, the Ben Towne Foundation, Dr. Michael Jensen's work at the Ben Towne Pediatric Cancer Research Center, the need for reform in adult medicine, hospice...). What a thrill, to have an open forum for such important topics! I couldn't have planned it any more perfectly.

A number of Katie's classmates attended, which meant a great deal to me. Paul & Suzanne both videotaped the event, so I may be able to post some of that here, eventually. Of course Paul was also recording all of the fun with his digital camera.

I see that I need a haircut

People are so kind. I was able to personalize and sign books, hug people, hear their stories and thank those who came. And after all was said and done, a few of us die-hards went to have a little after-party (hence the first photo).

I have to say that the Camp Goodtimes crowd performed brilliantly when Paul called out, "NINJA!" and they all replied "WHAAH!" in unison, with "Ninja! hands." It may have been a bit of a shock to the rest of the attendees, but that's how they roll. Their presence boosted my spirits and confidence.

To see so many of our neighbors and friends in the audience made it much easier to speak, though I still get terribly nervous. UGH...but it was worth it. My prayers that God's love would show through the event were answered, from what I could see. I'm deeply thankful to Him, to Katie, to our community and all of our family and friends who have been so supportive of us all throughout this journey. I'm exhausted, but happy!