The Wickeds on Tour!

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Kensington Books, our mutual publisher, is sending all six Wickeds on a mini-tour of independent bookstores October 4-6, in New England. For times and places, see below.

Here are the bookstores and their websites for your convenience.

Friday, October 4, at 7:00 pm

Jabberwocky Bookshop
At the Tannery Marketplace
50 Water Street
Newburyport, MA 01950
978-465-9359

Saturday, October 5, 4:00 to 6:00 pm

Wolfeboro Town Hall Great Room
A fundraiser for the Wolfeboro Public Library
Sponsored by The Country Bookseller
84 S. Main Street
Wolfeboro, NH 03894
603-569-6030

Sunday, October 6, at 2:00 pm

White Birch Books
2568 White Mountain Hwy
North Conway, NH 03860
603-356-3200

It will be a beautiful time of year in New England. The Wickeds would love to see you to talk books, mysteries, small towns, and of course, murder! Hope you can join us!

Readers: Have you ever been to an author event? Did you enjoy it? What did you like best about it? What should authors avoid doing on these tours? Let us know!

Published by Barbara Ross

Barbara Ross is the author of twelve Maine Clambake Mystery novels and six novellas. Her books have been nominated for multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and have won the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. She lives in Portland, Maine. Readers can visit her website at www.maineclambakemysteries.com

21 Thoughts

  1. I haven’t been to an author event that was one I chose to go to. The authors I like to read either avoid Oklahoma or I have thoroughly missed knowing they were here. Now, Shari Randall is supposed to be at an event in Oklahoma City tomorrow and I would love to go but have had unchangeable plans for about 6 months now 🙁. My mom wanted to go to an author event a few years ago and since she doesn’t drive in Tulsa I took her. It was when Ben Carson was running for president. We got there very early and there were at least 100 people in front of us, but the line behind us was incredibly long. I took a picture of her getting her book signed, but it happened soooooo fast that I almost missed it! They had a person that opened your book to the right spot for the autograph and told you the rules, basically, keep the line moving, don’t stop. I guess I always pictured an author event being where you could at least say a couple of words, tell them how much you enjoy their books, etc.. That was nothing like what I pictured. LOL!

    1. Yes, that whole thing with someone opening the book is pretty cool when you’re a writer, but usually there is a little chat. David Sedaris talks to everyone in his line–though of course then the line moves more slowly.

      1. Patience is a virtue. Or so they say😊! I am a very patient person when waiting in a line, much more so than anyone else in the family. I always have a book with me and lines, especially non-moving ones are a great place to read.

  2. How fun! Wish I could be there.

    Oh, yes. Been to a lot of author events since I’m lucky enough to have a great bookstore near me, Mystery Lovers.

    1. Mark, wish you could be there too! It’s such a great time to be in New England. Keep an eye out on social media, we’ll be posting a lot!

  6. I have been to the Los Angeles Times Book Fair and met Joanne Fluke. Years ago I went to one but now I can’t remember her name. Her character manages a art cooperative on the Central Coast in CA and the husband is the police chief. The venue was a small mystery bookstore and it was very crowded and not enough seating. My favorite was a private author event last winter in CA with Edith/Maddie.

  7. I’ve been to several. Yes, I like enough time to at least exchange a couple of sentences. Otherwise it feels like the author is there just for the money. I like when an author reads a little of his/her book, but not too much. I prefer learning more about the author than the book unless some history is involved I may not know about. I’ve been to signings that have taken place after a lecture in a huge auditorium and the author still took the time for a few words with each person getting a book signed. No excuse for rudeness.

  8. How I wish New England was on the West Coast so I could manage to come to one of your events.

    I’ve been to several events including a book launch party for one of my favorite authors locally. I always have a wonderful time at them … at least the ones I go to ,,, because there’s always an opportunity to chat with the author a bit (and sometimes quite extensively), I’ve only been to one where that wasn’t the case and that was an event at a Macy’s for Julia Child. And since there were several thousand people present, it was understandable that we couldn’t each have a few minutes with her.

    But apart from the chance to talk a bit one-on-one, I always enjoy hearing the author give some background about the origins or back-story of the book in question. Often these talks go well beyond what can be included in author notes and are frequently absolutely fascinating and offer a lot of insight.

    But frankly (and this won’t be any surprise to those of you who’ve read my previous blatherings here), my favorite kind of event is a conference where there are lots of opportunities to interact informally with a variety of authors. I’ve been going to Malice Domestic for more than 10 years, but there are plenty of other mystery-oriented fan/author conferences including Left-Coast Crime, Bouchercon, and others where you can have these interactions. As a result, more than a few of these authors have become good friends. And as we get older, the chances to add good friends to our lives are few and far between. As a result, these friendships are greatly cherished by me!

    I have to say, however, that the first time you encounter an author you’ve admired, it’s all too easy to be star-struck and forget that (much more so than other celebrities such as actors) they and their lives are much more akin to you and your life than they are different. For some of us, getting past the concept of celebrity can be a bit of a challenge, but once you do, the rewards can be rich indeed!

    1. I agree with so much of what you’ve written here, especially about conferences. And about celebrity. Julie arranged for me to sit at a banquet next to Elizabeth George, and immediately every book she’d ever written flew out of my head not to be retrieved.

      1. Hi Barbara,

        For me, I find I’m completely reduced to drooling incomprehensibly. Happened to me when I first met Angela Landsbury. Fifteen minutes later, we were chatting like old pals. Fortunately, we had two people we both knew which gave me something to say beyond “ga-ga-ga-ga,” (You’ll have to imagine the drooling.)

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