Author | Wanderer | Science Nerd & Coffee Lover
Hi.
This was my weekend:
I was maid of honor at my sister’s wedding.
Also this weekend is:
Today is the last day to get 22 amazing titles for free (some are $0.99).
Follow this link here to check out all the covers and titles, and for more information.
Your TBR pile will thank you, I promise.
I’m going to go nap now Have a great afternoon!
Hope & Kindness,
-ML
This weekend was great for a variety of reasons. One of them was that I got to see friends I haven’t seen since my college graduation and before open heart surgery five years ago. Another was that I got to visit my favorite hangouts both on campus and in Geneva.
I stayed on the same floor in the same dorm that I lived in when I was a first year. It still has the same Jackson Hall smell when you first walk in. And yes, in a way, it was like coming home again.
Friday night was full of hanging out with people I knew, and a great number of people I knew were in my class year but didn’t necessarily know their name.
Saturday was the Almuni Author Signing at the bookstore. I was absolutely thrilled and honored to be asked if I wanted to participate.
They sat the rookie next to the rock star – seriously, she had over a dozen books.
Photo is courtesy of my friend E.H. who snapped it while I was signing our mutual friend’s copy.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t take a lot of pictures this weekend. Hell, there was a lot of time when my phone stayed in my wallet. I wanted to see friends – including one guy who I thought hated me, but who completely surprised me by absolutely not hating me – and I wanted to just soak in the atmosphere of the weekend. I was back on campus with people I liked and who liked me. We swapped stories. Tried to remember how we’d met. Talked about classes and professors.
Talked about how many times we’d run from campus safety, too, for a variety of reasons. I plead the fifth on this one.
There were a number of classes celebrating milestones, and then there was a lady who was 103 and had graduated in 1936. I didn’t get to see her, though that’s absolutely amazing and I hope she had a wonderful weekend. She probably has a ton of wonderful memories and stories to tell, especially considering she was here during the early years of William Smith College. Who knows, maybe Pulteney Street still divided the two colleges back then. (Hobart was on one side, William Smith on the other. Literally.)
Honestly, this weekend was like a giant inter-class party, and I’m so, so glad I went. I told my friends, before we scattered back to our respective cities on Sunday, as much. I’m glad I went, and I’m very, very glad to have gotten to hang out with them all again.
The shine of the weekend has worn off a little bit (I went to the dentist yesterday morning and came out with a clean teeth and a new filling), but when I think about it? When I think about stepping in the door of the dorm again which, my God, they’re SO TINY and how did we honestly fit two people in a room that size? and wandering campus and laughing with old friends and new? I smile. And that I’ll hold onto until it’s time for my ten year.
Hope and Kindness,
-ML
The last two weeks have been a sort of runaway freight train for me at work. Coming up next weekend is my five year college reunion and my recreational dance recital.
Before that happens, though, you should get yourself over to Amazon because THERE ARE SO MANY BOOKS THAT ARE FREE!
There are plenty of great Clean Teen Publishing and Crimson Tree Publishing books available for free this weekend – check them out!
Hope & Kindness,
-ML
Before this past weekend, the last time I’d been to a book fair had been when I was in elementary school and it was the Scholastic Book Fair yes it deserves the capitals and those were amazing.
This weekend was also amazing, for a number of different reasons.
One of which was that I got to meet nineteen other authors local to WNY. Some of them, like me, had only one book. Some had three or four. One guy in the corner had an entire table full complete with some sets in cellophane and he had hoodies. HOODIES.
I don’t need hoodies but damn, did I seriously think about making one of those list type t-shirts with the outlaws names on them.
Anyway.
One of my big takeaways – and something I didn’t have – was something that listed my website and my social media handles. I do have bookmarks, but those are very much LADY OF SHERWOOD focused, not so much me as an author. As a result I’m looking into getting some sort of business card. If I hear good news about an opportunity in the fall, then I’m definitely going to need them.
That sounds really cryptic, but when I have good news, I’ll share it.
I did my best with my display. I was wingin’ it, okay? I’m wingin’ this whole author thing start to finish.
And I sold some books, too. Which is exciting.
I got to chat with other WNY authors. We got to share experiences, advice, and make the event fun for everyone who came to visit. And that, at the end of the day, is what mattered most.
There were some folks taking pictures – even a couple of Facebook live streams – but I have no idea where any of that got posted, and I can’t find it anywhere. It’s out there wandering the internet somewhere, having a grand old time, probably.
In the meantime, we’re halfway through the work week, which is always a bonus.
Hope & Kindness,
-ML
Hi Friends!
First, I hope your weekend was great mine was great up until I literally puked on Saturday night, but I’m feeling much better today and that your week gets off to a great start.
If you’re in Western New York you should absolutely come say hello and check out the awesome lineup of local authors (there’s 20 of us!) – maybe even win a Kindle. If you do live in WNY and you are planning on being there on Saturday AND you already have a copy of LADY OF SHERWOOD, I will absolutely ask you if I can sign your copy. And I’ll be handing out bookmarks.
Everybody else will also have books for sale, and you should absolutely check them out, too.
I’m really excited for Saturday, and I hope to see you there!
Happy Monday!
Hope & Kindness,
-ML
M.L. Bilinski 