Last night, I was kind of a celebrity...

Wanna know what I did last night?

Okay. I'll tell you.

Last night, my friend Mary and I attended a book club for my novel, Just Whistle.

Do you remember Sarah? Sarah is my number-one fan and I mention her periodically in blogs. She's also mentioned in the Acknowledgments of Come and Go So Quickly. Legitimately, Sarah has read all of my novels multiple times -- she knows the plots and the characters nearly as well as I do -- so when she said that her book club was reading her favorite of my novels, Just Whistle, and asked if I'd be willing to attend as a guest book-club member, I was all about it!

Let me begin by saying that every single woman in attendance was laugh-out-loud funny. Marida (I hope I am spelling her name correctly) suggested that everyone go around in a circle and introduce themselves. This was meant to be a simple "Hello, my name is..." but it turned into more of a "I bought the book and read the first thirty pages, but got caught up in finishing another novel for this other event and so I am going to read Just Whistle but I haven't read it yet" or "So what happened is I read next month's book this month, and that's a real testament because I didn't enjoy next month's book all that much because I do not like The Wizard of Oz, but I read it nevertheless and now I'm not prepared to discuss Just Whistle which is ironic because Just Whistle sounds like a book I'd really like AND I won't even be here next month to talk about the book I read and didn't like." I think it was Marida, but it might have been someone else, who, at the end of all these roundabout introductions, said, "This really wasn't meant to be a confessional."

I'm not going to go into a lot of detail regarding the conversation about Just Whistle simply because it has an ending that you're going to want to experience without any sort of giveaways. (Even though I once had a reviewer criticize the book for not providing trigger warnings... which I disagree with... but whatever. Everyone at last night's meeting was fine with the ending. Life isn't always centered around rainbows and unicorns and flower-scented moments of wonder, you know? And to have created something that results in people really feeling intense emotions for my characters? I'm all about that. I mean, talk about a compliment!)

Anyway. Last night's book club was a blast and a half. I met some former lifeguards and a web of Adams County connections was made among everyone in attendance and we had deep talks about my fifteen-year-old-self crush and my current crush. (For inquiring minds, my current crush is Sebastian Porter. Are you interested in falling in love with him as well? Read Kick It One More Time... or wait a few more days for the release of the audio and give it a listen.)

This blog is all over the place and I need to eat some pasta while tuning in to tonight's school board meeting, so I will sign off now. But the big takeaway is this: I had a blast at last night's book club and if YOUR book club ever wants to read something written by Hannah Rae, she may be willing to attend. Just sayin'.

Over and out.