Guess what I did last night.

Had a book club for my novel RUNNING THROUGH THE WORDS!

I'm currently shopping this one to agents (no luck so far), but would like to self-publish it if I can't secure representation. That would allow you guys to finally get to know Bas, Bert, and Lucy... whom I love every bit as much as the tangible people in my life.

My favorite part of the evening happened early on. Let me tell you about it!

So I had this idea to ask my friends to bring a bottle of wine with a label (I regularly shop for wine by the label) representative of part of the plot or a thematic element in the novel. My friends did NOT disappoint! And they splurged... many of the bottles were upwards of $18 each! They tasted expensive, too. Yum!

The winning wine was a red called Lost Poet. Theresa's explanation of why she chose it was ASTOUNDING. She used to teach language arts so she knows a thing or two about evaluating a text. She zeroed in on Sebastian's love of To Kill A Mockingbird and the poetic elements of Flannel Lobster's lyrics (Flannel Lobster is the band Bas is in) and there were other things too. It was brilliant!

Anyway, Theresa's prize was a collection of stationery that feature my brother's "bar monsters" that I've recreated with cut paper. Each card has a funny quote inside that was, at one point, spoken by one of my friends. Things like, "I mean... I can make an egg salad!" (Kathy) and "Disney Channel movies got me messed up. I thought by my senior year of high school I'd be tall and hairy... have a cool girlfriend..." (Nate). Just random things like that; they don't necessarily make sense, but they sure are funny! So Theresa won a pack of six cards and three really super-cool pens, but because everyone did such a nice job of choosing wine, she divvied up the cards and everyone went home with one! Isn't that kind? She's a wonderful and kind human. I love that lady.

The food was delicious, if I do say so myself. I made two quiches (one had mushrooms, the other did not), a tomato salad, shrimp, and marinated green beans. My buddy Nicoleo, whom I generally just refer to as "Buddy," brought delicious fudge with raspberry liqueur in it. The raspberry liqueur was not cooked off.

Funny thing about Buddy: she has to make the recipes in her cookbooks in order, and she can never repeat a recipe because this is a rule that exists in her head. She once made a really delightful cookie that I liked very much (I feel like it had espresso in it... and was then dipped partially in dark chocolate) and I asked if she'd ever be willing to make it again. She said "No." I wondered if she would if I were on my deathbed and those cookies were the only thing that would save me. She still said "No," but did volunteer to give the recipe to my mom who could make the cookies for me, thus saving my life. She's a gem, that one. I do love her.

I won't tell you the suggestions I received because they won't make sense to you (since you obviously haven't read the book), but I did get some valuable feedback and that was the point of the evening! Yay!