I can’t believe that Frozen Voices was published more than a month ago. It seems like it’s only been out for a few days. But, at the same time, so much has happened! For example, a few weeks ago (December 30th), Chris and I traveled down to Enders Island, off the coast of Mystic, Connecticut, so that I could do a book presentation/signing for the students of Fairfield University’s MFA program, my alma matter.
During my first reading in Minnesota and my Rhode Island book launch on December 10, I did a presentation about George McVay, one of my four narrators who was the captain of the Larchmont. For my presentation at Enders, I spoke about Sadie Golub, another of my narrators, who was a dressmaker, recently immigrated from Russia. Since the audience at Enders was predominantly other writers, I spent more time discussing how I conducted my research about Sadie and then how I used the research to create a detailed narrative about her life before, during, and after the disaster. The audience was great! They listened attentively and then asked some really great questions. Afterward, several people came up to me and discussed the books that they were writing themselves. I felt privileged that they would share their ideas with me.
Book Presentation/Signing for FUMFA Program @ Enders Island, December 30, 2016
Since I can never eat before a presentation (too nervous!), Chris and I went out for a late lunch afterward with Ben Fine, another FUMFA alumni. We had a great time at a Mystic steak house, discussing future writing projects (Ben and me) and smoking meat (Chris).
My next book presentation/signing will be at this year’s AWP Conference in Washington, D.C., on February 9th through the 11th. That’s going to be quite a different audience than Enders. I have no idea what to expect!