March and April Signings for Uptown

Friday, March 26, 2010 7:00PM

UNION, NJ

HERE’S THE STORY

1043 Stuyvesant Avenue, Union, NJ

Saturday, March 27, 2010 2:00PM

SPRINGFIELD, NJ

BARNES & NOBLE #1884

240 Route 22 West Springfield, NJ

Sunday, March 28, 2010 (Tentative) 2:00PM

NEW YORK, NY

Sip & Sign Sunday

INDIGO ARMS

181 Lenox Avenue, New York, NY

Tuesday March 30, 2010 (Tentative) 7:00PM

NEW YORK, NY

B. SMITH PARTY (Private/Invitation only)

320 W. 46th Street

New York, NY

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 7:00PM

NEW YORK, NY

BORDERS BOOKS & MUSIC #200

461 Park Avenue @57th Street

New York, NY

Thursday, April 8, 2010 7:30PM

NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ

BARNES & NOBLE #2985

869 Route 1 South

North Brunswick, NJ

Friday April 9, 2010 7:00PM

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ

ALFA GALLERY -Book signing and Uptown Art Exhibit with Vesselin Kourtev

108 Church Street

New Brunswick, NJ

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 7:00 PM

BARNEGAT, NJ

OCEAN COUNTY LIBRARY/BARNEGAT BRANCH

112 Burr Street

Barnegat, NJ

Thursday, April 15, 2010, 7:00PM

ROCHESTER, NY

MOODMAKERS BOOKS

302 Goodman Street North

Rochester, NY

Friday, April 16, 2010

5-7PM

BUFFALO, NY

THE GIRLFRIENDS, Inc. (Talking Leaves Books)

Chow Chocolate

731 Main Street

Buffalo, NY 14203

Saturday April 17, 2010

AMHERST, NY

2PM

BARNES & NOBLE

1565 Niagara Falls, Blvd

Amherst, NY

Sunday April 18, 2010

CHEEKTOWAGA, NY

2PM

BORDERS BOOKS & MUSIC

2015 Walden Avenue

Cheektowaga, NY

Monday, April 19, 2010

WILLIAMSVILLE, NY

7:00PM

ZION DOMINION BOOK CLUB

Zion Dominion Global Ministries

895 North Forest Road

Williamsville, NY 14221

Zen and the Art of Book Tour

We are 10 days past publication and on another countdown of sorts.

The book tour launch sequence has begun and “there’s no stoppin’ us now!” Since our first official event, a party and book signing for about 150 Monday night, we have been prepping for departure. Being away from home for two weeks and in a different city (with widely varying mean temperatures) every day of those two weeks not only calls for state of the art packing skills it requires us to summon up BOOK TOUR mindset—the one we put away when the last tour is over and have only thought of since as an occasional anecdotal episode. “Remember when we were stranded in Sacramento airport and…” “Which airport were we in where the waitress invited us to her house?” “What was the name of the hotel where my bed collapsed?” (Most of these, “remember the time,” stories involve airports or hotels.) But now we have to find that "come what may" attitude again and strap it on tight.

Book tour is, in many ways, like preparing for any kind of marathon event. Training, mind over matter and playing hurt are key to making the journey a success. We must stop thinking of things like sleep and regular meals as requirements, and see them as luxuries we are thrilled to have when they occur. We must remember not to be wary of strangers—most of the folks who cross our path are readers, and we have found readers to be warm, funny, interesting people we have enjoyed greatly. We must use our best scouting skills when navigating the path to our required destinations. As opposed to the good old days, when we had officially sanctioned and trained author escorts, most of us still lucky enough to have a publisher sponsored tour, have more responsibility for finding our way to the bookstore, library, radio station, etc. once we are in the city of the day. And although we are given detailed instructions and directions on how to reach a particular location, (including estimated times from one point to another by various means of transportation) there are always glitches. We must be Zen about weather and flights. We must learn to be at home at or near departure gates--listening to announcements while having conversations/emails/texts with our publicist, travel agent, editor and/or agent. Oh yeah, and our family and friends. Paraphrasing the oath we took as Girl Scouts many many years ago –We must do our best at all times to be friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong.

And of course we must remember to be grateful for the opportunity to meet and spend a little time with those who make it possible for us to do what we do.

Countdown to Publication #0 Days It Happened on Monday

Our takes on the last day before Uptown is officially released.

DONNA

It happened on Monday. I was taking a shower when it hit. Yes, it was 2:30 in the afternoon. I hadn’t been away from the computer until then. I made myself get up because Virginia and I needed to get to the post office. And I really needed a shower—Trust me.

So I soaped up some essential parts, and then the wave smacked me upside the head and left me woozy—Uptown pubs tomorrow and until that moment I thought I had my feelings under control. No big deal. We did everything we could do—write what we feel is a fast paced book, with intriguing characters and situations and let as many readers know it’s coming as we can. I mean, really, it’s not like it’s the first time.

But it’s really always the first time. No matter how I prep for it there is always the point when my feelings get out of control. Kind of like when I’ve had surgery. I am calm in my hospital pajamas as they walk me to the surgery suite, swaddle me in the microwaved blanket and look for my veins. No big deal I tell myself. My doctor has explained the procedure (and I’ve triple checked on the internet). These are trained professionals, blah, blah, blah. And then there comes this moment when my brain is screaming, “Oh crap. They’re gonna cut me open and move stuff around!!!” Fortunately, that moment happens shortly before anesthesia is administered. To read the rest of this post, click here:

Uptown has landed!!

It's Official-Uptown has landed and should be on the shelves at bookstores near you!

We say should, because, well, lets just say, sometimes they don't make it out of the stockroom in time for their big debut. This is where we need your help. If you go to find the book and it's not where it should be, first, please ask a sales associate to find it for you. And if they tell you they don't have it, be sure to let us know (even if they offer to order it for you, which is fine)! We need to know the store name and address so we can report it to our publisher. They are looking closely at early sales numbers (a lot like that first weekend at the box office for movies), but if the books aren't out they can't be purchased, so we need to let them know. So consider yourselves deputized as the Uptown Patrol!

The day a book comes out is still both exciting and scary, but we're strapped in for the ride. We thank you for continuing to take the ride with us and we look forward to your comments about Uptown.

Uptown-Amazon and Uptown-B&N