Friday, October 20, 2006

Busy Weekend Ahead

So it's Friday and normally I would be shouting Yeah! even though I haven't had a true weekend off since, well, since I don't know when. But this weekend is even busier than usual.

Tomorrow morning I have to wake up bright and early, take care of all errands, then head out with my mom, dad and hubby to start decorating a room at a local convention centre for my book launch party. The party starts at 7:30, but we don't know how much decor the room will take, so we have to start early in case we need to buy more. It's a two-stage decorating process. I'm really looking forward to the party as I will get to see some relatives I haven't seen in forever and all my friends will be there to celebrate the launch. Altogether, I'm figuring on about a hundred people. At least, I hope it's only a hundred as that's what I catered for :)

Then Sunday, I do my first official booksigning event. It's called Buns & Roses and it's a tea and booksigning with the proceeds going to charity. Check out the website. A bunch of great authors will be there and I'm really excited about doing something like this. Even though I will NOT be wearing a hat.

When all that excitement is over, I have a mere three days to get myself together to go out of town the following Thursday night to stay with my parents, then head out the next day to Louisiana, where I'll be doing a booksigning in Lake Charles (nearest town with a bookstore to my hometown of Carlyss). It will be at the Books-A-Million starting at noon, so come out and join me if you're in the area.

And of course, at some point and time in this whirlwind, I kinda need to write my next book - you know, the one I accepted a contract on. But don't worry, Leah (my awesome editor who lurks on my blog), UNLUCKY will be on time and fabulous. I'm telling myself that at least fifty tmes a day. :)

Have a great weekend, all!!!!

7 comments:

Jaye Wells said...

I'm looking forward to tomorrow night. I forgot to sign up for Buns in time. How exciting for you. I woudl imagine its kind of surreal to do all this. Did you think three years ago you'd be here today?

Jana DeLeon said...

No Jaye, I didn't think I would get here this fast. I allowed myself a full year to write the first book and treated writing like any other profession. If it takes four years to get a college degree, I figured on a minimum of four years of writing and learning technique before I'd even be ready to submit. "They" say average time to publication is eight years, so when I started I definitely wasn't in any hurry. I figured it would be the same for me.

It is definitely surreal and sometimes scary that it happened so fast. I worry a lot that the next book will live up to the expectations set by this one, but I guess I'd be crazy if I didn't.

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a fun and exciting time! Wish I knew my relatives in the Lake Charles area better (and was up to traveling). I'd go see you and bring my book, of course. You need to come to NE Arkansas. :)

Jana DeLeon said...

Tori - Is Blythesville anywhere near you? Or am I thinking of the wrong state?

Anonymous said...

Oh, yes! It's about 60-65 miles. So you headed this way any time soon? :)

Jana DeLeon said...

There is a great independent bookstore there. If I could arrange a signing sometime (when I figure out a weekend I could actually get there in between travel), I'd like to do something. But I need to contact the owner, figure out my schedule, etc. I'll definitely let you know if I can make it happen.

Kelly (Lynn) Parra said...

Jana, wow, what a great line up you have! Please tell us all about everything! You are my hero. lol! I'm thinking of one booksigning for GG, because I'm all nervous about the idea. haha. Hope you have fun!

 
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