One down and one to go! Had my first event for First Fridays last night. Pics will be coming this weekend. But it was great and I had a great time. We just hung out at Mack’s Sports Bar and Grill, eating, drinking, and chatting. My motorcycle club members were hosting and ever present in their vests. And they even bought books too! How awesome! It was great to get the support of family and to see my different friends come together and act like they knew each other. Well, actually, some of them did, but we just didn’t know it. Found out that night. Small world. Isn’t it funny how that works out sometime? People came from Lyrics of the Lou, a Wednesday night poetry set I hit up at the Filter Bar (if you’re in St. Louis, you got to check this out. It’s hot!). And then there were people I’d never met before who told me they heard me on the radio and came by to check me out. Now that was so cool!

So, today is Friday and I’m chilling and fixing my mind to Saturday’s signing were this time I’m actually going to have to get up and talk in front of people. It’s a reading, Q & A session, and whatever before the signing. Then I get a call from someone that I came to find out was a Soror, who wants me to come to her book club meeting next week and to bring books because she selected my book for February! Awesome! And of course, I offered to come back in February and sit down and chat with them about it. But, of course! So, I’m feeling good about the 11 books for each member that she’s telling me to bring. Because I also know that my other friend, Angelia, who works in the school district and sold 25 of my self published books in a single day at work (and who gave the book club lady my info to contact me)…well, she’s taking orders for this book, so I’m feeling pretty. Next thing I know, another friend, a nurse at a hospital, calls and tells me she has a minimum order of 30 (but she hasn’t talked to everyone yet and this is only one of the hospitals she works in), and can I come up to the hospital next week to do a “hospital signing?” Okay, I never did that before but, HELLZ YEAH!

These are FRIENDS. It feels so good when you don’t ask, but people offer because they WANT you to succeed and sell books. They see you out there chasing your dream and they want to help you catch it. Asking nothing in return (although they will get something). I can’t tell you how warm that makes me feel. I got their back at any time.

So, kick off weekend is going GREAT thus far. I don’t think I could ask for anything better.