Laura, Chris, Me, and Catherine at Block Island's North Light
This past weekend, my husband (Chris), younger daughter (Laura), and a friend of mine (Catherine) went with me out to Block Island so I could do a Frozen Voices presentation, mostly for the folks who live on the Block year-round. I must admit to being a little worried about the ferry ride to and from the island, because--ironically!--I am not the best "boat person," often becoming quite seasick at the slightest provocation. As it turns out, I had nothing to worry about. The seas were calm and the weather was beautiful...in the high 40s. A perfect day for a ferry ride...or two!
The book event was held at the Island Bound Bookstore, near the island's post office and was well-attended by lots of islanders. I love doing book talks and enjoy them even more when members of the audience are related to real-life characters in my book! Since many Block Islanders in 1907 were involved in rescue efforts for the Larchmont passengers, quite a few of the audience members Sunday were connected, in some way, to characters in Frozen Voices. After my talk, I loved hearing all of the interesting stories people told about the disaster.
Thank you to Susan Bush, the incredibly nice owner of the Island Bound Bookstore for organizing and hosting Sunday's event. Susan was even kind enough to lend us her car before the reading so that we could take a tour of beautiful Block Island and see again some of the places mentioned in the novel. Thanks a million! I hope to be able to do more events with you in the future. They're so much fun!
And thank you to Kristin Bauman, the director of the Island Free Library, co-sponsor of the book reading. Kristin was instrumental in assisting with the publicity for the event and provided the projector and screen I used for my presentation. Thanks, Kristin!
And three more thank-yous: to Chris, Laura, and Catherine, for coming with me to the Block and for helping out in so many ways. Catherine ran the projector and provided me with interesting/distracting conversation on the ferry so I didn't get seasick. Laura kept me company and said very nice things about my presentation. And Chris drove, carried, and did anything else that needed to be done...my best friend, my husband, and an all-around great person!
It was a wonderful day that I'll never forget!