First Friday's Book Signing

This past Friday, December 2, I spent several hours at my favorite coffee shop because Alex and Chad (those are my favorite baristas) hosted a book signing for me! It was super fun and these are the highlights:

Even before any of my anticipated friends arrived, Brody (Annie's son) and Elliott (Darren's son) swung by to say hi! I wasn't expecting them, but I loved that they stopped in to wish me luck! It was really sweet.

My marketing manager Mary was there even though she barely had a voice. The girl is a trooper! She sold some books, made some change, and distributed bookmarks like it was her job. (I mean, it kind of was her job... she just didn't get paid for it.)

Nearly my entire book club made an appearance! First Annie arrived. She had a limited window because she needed to get Brody to a lacrosse game, but she still made it a point to be there. Next, Siri showed up. I almost didn't recognize her! It's been ages since the two of us were in the same place at the same time, and this is absolutely ridiculous because we live in the same neighborhood.

True story: I recently sent Siri a card with a picture of Angela Lansbury on the front. Inside, it said something like, "I haven't heard from you in a while and just wanted to make sure you hadn't been murdered." Because, you know, Jessica Fletcher was always connecting with old friends in Murder, She Wrote and finding out that they were at dire risk of being murdered.

Erin and Brecia arrived next, I believe. Erin brought Lila and Mason with her (those are two of her children; Grace was at a basketball game) and they had some hot chocolate. Eighty-Two had this cool hot cocoa bar that was sort of like Sweet Frog, but for cocoa. Essentially, customers could pay $5 for a cup of cocoa and top it with anything on the table: whipped cream, marshmallows, candy canes, crunched up toffee pieces, crunched up cookies, crunched up other things... There were all sorts of options!

Kendall came with her boyfriend Quinn. (Quinn is a twin, but his twin wasn't with him.) I was very excited to introduce my mom to Kendall because that girl knows how to deliver a story! She tells some real zingers at book club and just knows exactly how to speak a line in order to bring everyone to tears. Tears of laughter, I should probably say: the girl is hilarious!

Victoria was there as well. More on this later.

And then there's my friend Biz, whom you ought to remember from my Souper Soup Search not too long ago. Biz arrived in a cloud of energy, as only Biz can do, and when she came up to me, pretty much the first words out of her mouth were, "Hannah! When I got here, I saw this very attractive man behind the bar, and then I realized that man was my husband! I was like, 'I don't need to admire him! I already have him!'" So that made me laugh.

About the bar... I had some bartenders helping me out on Friday night. Major props go to Kristin, who is also a member of my book club. She got there first and served up Mud Buzzes to anyone and everyone! Kristin had had a rough week, too, because some of her students were throwing a bag of marinara and meat around the hallway and it exploded. (She teaches middle school. Need I say more?) So the fact that Kristin showed up, exhausted and utterly in need of Christmas break, was a truly magnificent friend moment. She brought her daughter Isabel as well, which was nice because I hadn't seen Isabel for quite some time. Her hair looks as good as ever!

My other bartenders were Phil (obviously, seeing as I've already shared the first words out of Biz's mouth when she saw me) and Brock (that's Phil's best friend). Both Phil and Brock play trivia with me on Thursday nights, so you'd better believe they're intelligent men. And cute! They charmed the crowds and served the Mud Buzz, adding a shot of vanilla vodka to those who wanted to experience a proper Mud Buzzed (wink, wink).

The rest of my trivia team was there too! Darren arrived after his son had left, and Ben came shortly thereafter. Ben factors into the "more on this later" story that I want to share about Victoria, so just be patient. I'm trying to go in chronological order while still clumping some things together to make sure everything is easy to follow.

Some of my students showed up! The first to arrive was The Novelist and I was so happy to see her! And I met her mom for the first time! (She was lovely.) I told The Novelist that someday I will be attending her book signing, because seriously? What a good writer! I can't wait to see what she creates and where she goes in life; I know she's going someplace great.

Agent S was there with her mom too! When she got there she said that she said to her mother, "We need to go and support her, Mom. It's her book signing." So they came in and tried the Mud Buzz and talked to some other students and teachers for a while. It meant a lot that they were there.

My country boys showed up! Mr. Down Under and his buddy The Tree-Stand Sitter were a total surprise! Not only did they hang out for a while, but they each bought a copy of my book! And then The Tree-Stand Sitter suggested he and Mr. Down Under read a chapter each day so we can have book clubs in the morning before class. (Neither one of those boys is a reader, so this was an insanely huge compliment to me.) The Tree-Stand Sitter also made the comment that he thinks it might be nice to sit in his tree stand and read my book while hunting. That is, in fact, how he got his name for this blog.

The Octopus Gifter was there! Last year, I had the Octopus Gifter as a freshman and she gave me a squishy octopus that can be turned inside out. On one side, the octopus is light pink and happy; on the other side, it's dark pink and mad. I often have to hide the octopus from period six because they are easily distractable, but I very much enjoy that stuffed animal!

The Octopus Gifter arrived with her mother Sally, who works at my school. Sally helped a lot with the creation of my Just Whistle book boxes as she made all of the bracelets. Some other coworkers who showed up were Kaitlin, who brought her friend Bitsy (I'd never met a Bitsy before!) and Tiff, who brought two of her three children. It worked out very well that my mother showed up when she did. Here's the story of why I say this:

When The Novelist first arrived, my mom was not there yet, but I knew my mom would want to see The Novelist because she had her as a wee child at storytime. So I called my mom and was all like, "Mom! The Novelist is here! Where are you?" And my mom told me she was putting on her shoes.

Shortly thereafter, my mom showed up and I was able to introduce her to ALL OF MY STUDENTS because ALL OF MY STUDENTS arrived at the same time! And it was perfect because Mr. Down Under and The Tree-Stand Sitter might help my mom do some mulching in the spring.

Nicole was there too! With her son (my student) the Cross-Country Whiz! And Nicole brought Sarah (soon to be my coworker!) and Maura (whom I hadn't seen for years!).

Of course Kathy came! She's been in my world since nursery school, after all. She was going to bring her entire family, but Michael Hans was ill so Calan was the only one to accompany her. Calan was absolutely adorable though and told me that I'm doing a really nice job with my writing and my art. He thought I seemed pretty "professional."

Calan also had wonderful talks with my mom while they waited in line for hot cocoa. He asked her about her cats, Poppy and Bert, and said that the two weeks those kittens stayed at his house were two of the best weeks of his life. (This is a story for another blog; this particular post is already quite long enough.) He also asked my mom if she ever misses her house. (You see, Calan and Kathy and Michael Hans and Regular Michael actually live in my old house. Isn't that funny?)

Other people in attendance were my Other Mother Amy, her husband Steve, niece Amy Ann, and granddaughter Zizi. Sarah was there too; she introduced me to those obscure British writers the day Mary and I took Augusta to Eighty-Two. Oh! And Emily!

Emily graduated a couple of years ago and I LOVE HER, but haven't seen her for a while. She just randomly showed up and it was such a happy reunion! That girl is just such a kind and vibrant soul.

Okay, so... after the event, Mary and Brock and Phil and Ben and Victoria and I went to Tommy's for some pizza and then took it to Old Reliance Mine. While at the Mine, I learned that Ben (like Victoria) is big into parasites. Victoria was telling us this crazy story about veterinary licenses, that somehow turned into a story about heartworms, and then Ben had a lot of questions about heartworms, and when Victoria explained how heartworms work -- how they get in the blood -- Ben said very, very seriously, "See? I just love that! That's my kind of parasite. It gets in the blood."

Ben is an interesting dude.

Those are my observations regarding Friday night. All in all, it was amazingly fun and I hope to do it again someday. Thanks to all who came out to show support, and special thanks to Alex, Chad, Kristin, Brock, and Phil for serving up delicious coffee and providing an awesome venue. Love you, friends! ❤️