Uptempo, Down

I had a book club with my Hannah Rae Readers on Saturday night to discuss something that I wrote called Uptempo, Down. Of the guys in the band Flannel Lobster, this is Finn's story, and it takes place at Moonglow, NC, which some readers may recognize as Jonny's hometown. (Jonny from The Way Back, that is. If you're looking for a sequel, this isn't it, but Uptempo does answer some questions readers may be asking after The Way Back...)

Anyway, because one of the characters in my new book is a baker who owns a cupcake shop called For the Love of Cupcakes, I made some miniature cupcakes for Saturday's event:

• Chocolate espresso with espresso icing

• Chocolate with peanut butter icing

• Chocolate with chocolate-cream cheese icing

• Chocolate-almond with almond-coconut icing

• Lemon with lemon-cream cheese icing

• Vanilla with blackberry icing

• Coconut with coconut-cream cheese icing.

Here's a picture:

Are you jealous? I'll bet you are!

For the most part, folks seemed to enjoy the book. We talked about the characters a good bit (people love Finn and Edna, want more of Bert and Russo, and are tired of Bas and Lucy... even though Bas is the most important character because he fuels the plot of just about every novel and is my absolute favorite to write about. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Whatevs. Bas brings me joy and I will continue to tell his story on the pages of my novels because I ADORE him.)

My marketing manager Mary thinks that we may be able to edit and release Uptempo as early as next winter, but we'll see. It's a pretty fun read--and a fast one--but I want to read over it another couple of times before I make any rash decisions.

Here's a picture of my beloved reading group. Their feedback, even when it's not 100% positive, makes me a better writer and I am so thankful to have them in my world! ❤️