Cherokee Regional Summer Reading Kickoff 2010

Posted on May 23, 2010 (Subscribe to Blog)

The Cherokee Regional Summer Reading Kickoff was a lot of fun yesterday. It took place in the Agricultural Building behind the Walker County Civic Center in Rock Spring (the "rain location" because the ground at Lee & Gordon's Mills was still a little soggy from the previous day's rain). It was a hot, sunny morning and the place was busy from the moment the doors opened at 10.30am.

For those who don't know, summer reading programs help children maintain reading skills over the summer vacation. The idea is for children to read, read, read! This particular event included storytime with Carmen Agra Deedy, a nationally known storyteller and author.

Hannah with her prize (ie, the books, not me)

I had a table just inside the door where I was offering a free raffle. My clever wife had packaged up a basket with some goodies including Island of Fog and Labyrinth of Fire; entry to the raffle involved supplying a name and email address on a piece of paper and dropping it into a bowl. When the draw finally took place just before 1pm, there were around 65 entrants. The winner, Hannah, seemed very excited and I think I heard her say she had never won anything before. I hope she enjoys the first two books in the trilogy, and I'll also be sending her a free copy of Book 3, Mountain of Whispers, as soon as it's published in June.

For those who didn't win, a quick reminder that signed copies can be bought right here for $11.95 each, and unsigned copies are available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Speaking of which, I was approached by a Community Relations Manager from Barnes & Noble. For those of you in the UK, Australia, India, and so on, Barnes & Noble is the largest chain of bookstores in the U.S. Anyway, the manager asked if I was interested in book talks and signings at the store, to which I interrupted with "Yes!!" and promptly handed him my two books to read and approve. I'll definitely stay in contact with him! My books are already online at Barnes & Noble, and can be ordered over the counter at the stores, but now maybe there's a possibility of having them on the shelves in one or more locations.

Island of Fog
Labyrinth of Fire

My thanks (yet again!) to Brandy Wyatt, the children's specialist at the Rossville Public Library, who set me up with the table and is always putting in a good word for me at local schools. :-)

Comment by MING on Sunday, May 23, 2010...

Sounds like you had a good time, Keith! Looking forward to seeing the trilogy "on the shelves" soon. :-)

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