First of all I want to say thanks to Sybil for having me as a guest blogger. And I have to say I am terrified! *g* Why? Because I’ve been looking through her site and I am majorly impressed with her list of guest bloggers. How did I rate a spot? I think it has to do with my night job, my favorite job — as Romance Manager for an independent bookstore in KY. 

I have always been a fan of romance, the house is overflowing with books, especially romances, much to the dismay of my DH. So when I was offered the opportunity to work a few hours at our local bookstore, I jumped at it. I’m thinking that it would help pay for my huge book addiction. What I didn’t know was how involved my little part time job would soon be!

I started a website for the store, featuring romances. I do author interviews every month, romance previews of upcoming releases, the occasional review, and best of all… I’m in charge of author signings. Ah.. that’s the real fun and challenge.

First let me tell you that I am basically a shy person. Ok, all you that know me can quit laughing now! I have always been in awe of authors, especially romance authors. The fact that their books take me away to different eras, different lifestyles, different everything and has the HEA that I craved, has gotten me through some pretty rough times. And I love the fact that romances have branched out into so many different areas.

I was also very wrongly under the impression that authors were way to lofty for little old me, so when it came time to do interviews, much less ask one of these awesome people to come do a signing at our store, I was petrified!

I must say that all the authors I’ve met have been friendly, witty and all around wonderful people. We’ve only had a few signings so far but one of my favorites was last September with J.R. Ward and Lora Leigh. I had met both these ladies at the RWA conference in Atlanta last year and even had a nice chat with Lora at one point and I was thrilled to find they lived in my area of the country. I had been introduced to J.R. by our chapter president and I was so overwhelmed by meeting this author I could barely say a word! I don’t even think I got out that I was a bookseller. The seemingly magic word to an author. *g*

After getting back home and off cloud nine I gathered my courage and wrote J.R. and asked her if she would be interested in doing a signing for our store. She said yes and asked is she could bring Lora Leigh with her. Could she? Well of course! She could have asked to bring my worst enemy and I would have jumped at the chance for her to come do a signing, much less another KY area author whose books I loved!

After lots of planning and worrying, doing PR work for the signing, telling everyone I know about the books, getting decorations done, gifts for the authors, baking a ton of cookies and praying constantly that things came off well, the day arrived and the fun began…

The fans came from near and far, even several states away! They started arriving well before it was time for the signing. Now those are devoted Cellies! All just to visit the WARDen and get her newest book signed. Of course Lora had a good following too and to say we had a good day of sales would be an understatement! And for the ones that didn’t order ahead of time or couldn’t make it to the signing, J.R. and Lora signed back stock for us which sold well too!

I had read and was totally fascinated by the whole Black Dagger Brotherhood series (and had recommended them to everyone) and of course I had my own questions but I was amazed at the detailed questions that J.R. received about her books and the Brotherhood. You could tell the books had been read multiple times and the Cellies (and yes I am a Cellie too) had really bonded with the Brothers. Sometimes they got the answer they wanted sometimes it was the typical WARDen answer of “Keep Reading”! Oh course we all wanted hints about the Brotherhood, especially about upcoming books and I can happily say that we did get a few interesting tidbits into the Brothers lives.

Watching J.R. laugh and talk with her fans was absolutely amazing! You could see the love she had for her craft, her characters and the honest appreciation she had for her fans. It made me want to know that much more about the Brotherhood and the author that brought them to life. To say that having J.R. Ward do a signing at our store was fun and totally amazing would be like saying the sun was a little bright.

To hear the WARDen tell it, the Brotherhood’s world came to her fully formed and it was like watching a movie unfold in her mind. She writes the stories they tell her. To have the talent to express that world so vividly that it keeps us enthralled and anxious to constantly know more about the Brothers and their lives is a major accomplishment that she should be very very proud of.

She shares the joy and the heartbreak of the brothers with her fans and definitely makes us care. And you know what the best think of all is…..SHE’S COMING BACK TO OUR STORE ON SATURDAY, MARCH 10th from 2-4 P.M. Can you tell I’m excited to see her again and hear more about the Brothers? Oh yeah!

I’ve only got one complaint major about J.R. — she keeps forgetting to bring the Boys with her! I even offered to do a special midnight signing just for them. Talk about having fans lining the streets!

Oh well, I can dream… but remember J.R. if the boys ever want to stop by with you, they are more than welcome!

If you would like to know more about J.R.’s signing at our store, please check out our store site or you can drop me a line at bookstorenews@gmail.com.