sending promotional materials. To tell you the truth,
a sister panicked. “What in the world?” I said out loud.
I had no idea the preparation one had to undergo,
but Naleighna Kai was very helpful. She didn’t hand-
hold but gave the authors just enough to go on their
way, and I accomplished every goal that was set.
A shy person by nature, speaking in front of folks was
not something I felt prepared for. Three minutes felt
like three hours to speak or read an excerpt from
my latest book. I remember calling Naleighna Kai in
a panic. She, in turn, got Dr. Joyce A. Brown on the
line. On a three-way conversation, they encouraged
me and tried to calm my fears. I’d even written this
long drawn out speech and tried to memorize it all
the way up to the day I left and on the plane. I was
scared out of my mind.
My best friend, Yvette, who came along for support,
kept telling me that I was over-thinking this whole
thing and just to be genuine. I wasn’t trying to hear it.
I prayed that I didn’t make a complete fool of myself.
When we arrived at the hotel, the first face that I saw
was Naleighna Kai, herself. She was busy putting
things together but recognized me immediately.
Her embrace was loving and soothing. I was still
very nervous, but I was here, in Chicago for the
first time in my life, and I had to get it together.
What happened? When my name was called that
evening, I rose from my chair and looked out into the
sea of smiling faces. I ended up speaking from my
heart. I told everyone how nervous I was and that I
had this speech all prepared. They laughed. I spoke
about myself and my books and received a hearty
applause from the crowd. The experience was quite
painless. All that stress for nothing, but I had to learn
that lesson.
The entire weekend was a blast. All of the
activities and signings were fun-filled, and there
was always knowledge given and experiences
being shared. The chats, conversations, questions,
and answers, were more than anyone could ask
for. One of the things I loved was that we weren’t
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separated by New York Times, National Bestselling,
independently published or debut authors. We were
all intermingled together in every activity.
There is much more to attending a literary event
than sitting at a table waiting for the crowd to swoon
over you. It hardly works that way, especially when
you are unknown. I had to engage and sell myself
to give people a reason to take a chance on this
woman from Delaware and spend their money on
my product. I met some wonderful people, sold quite
a few books and made some lasting friendships that
I still have to this day.
Most importantly, I was given tools to use to become
better in all areas of my literary life. I have three
books under my belt, and I still consider myself
a fairly new author because I have much more to
learn.
I’ll never forget the experience and plan to come
back again in the future and attend others. In the
meantime, I am making myself known here in my
hometown and attend events locally and in driving
distance. That’s where it all starts.