Friday is Valentine's Day and I'll be celebrating romance novels with fellow authors at a local library.
Last year I went to support my chapter mates and friends who were participating. It turned out that almost all the authors participating were or had been members of my writers group at one time or another. This year looks to be the same, but now I'll be among them.
This is my first local event. I'm careful about revealing exactly what I write. Not because I'm ashamed, but because male male romance, much like queerness in general can incite negative reactions and I don't want to put myself into an unsafe position.
But, as all the other participants are people I know, I feel confident they'll have my back should the need arise. So...
There's nothing like a last-minute event to ratchet up my stress-level. My down time this week will be spent pondering and planning my table presentation. I'm pretty sure everyone else had physical books. I don't. Everyone has swag. All I have right now are pens. But I do have cover images in stand-up frames (a trick I learned at the second GRL I attended) along with book blurbs and QR codes.
I need to buy some orange Lifesaver mints--these are the bomb and I will never do an event without them at my table/space.
Next week, I'll let you know how it goes.
Have a great rest of your week.
