Book Signing at Turn the Page with Nora Roberts, et al.

Display window at Turn the Page. I LOVED the DLOD poster my publicist made for the signing and sent ahead! (Thanks, Brad!)

Book Signing at Turn the Page in Boonsboro, Md

This past Saturday I participated in a once-in-a-lifetime multi-author event at Turn the Page bookstore in Boonsboro, Maryland with Nora Roberts and four other authors. The “once-in-a-lifetime” remark referring to me, of course, because Nora does these events quite frequently! Still, this one felt special. In addition to the fans, there were artists out painting on the sidewalk and at least two news crews present. Click here to read more about the local artists en plein air painting during the signing. Click here for a quick 50 second pre-signing video interview of me by romance writer and blogger, Sara Humphreys.

Turn the Page is Nora’s own bookstore. It’s managed by the wonderful Janeen Solberg and stocks every title Nora has ever written (over 200!), local history books, autographed books (including Dark Light of Day now), and gifts. Nora was signing The Perfect Hope, which is the third book in her Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy, inspired by the bed and breakfast that Nora renovated. The Inn BoonsBoro is right across the street from the bookstore. Each room is named, themed, and appropriately decorated based on a famous romance couple from literature (for example, Marguerite and Percy from The Scarlett Pimpernel; Elizabeth and Darcy from Pride and Prejudice; and Eve and Roarke from the “In Death” novels).

The town of Boonsboro is charming. I only had time for a quick coffee at the Icing Bakery & Cafe, but my friends met up at Dan’s Restaurant & TapHouse for drinks and a bite to eat while they waited for their ticket time. (Yep, there were that many fans at the signing. Over 300 people came! Luckily, the bookstore is used to managing large crowds and Nora’s readers were patient about waiting, excited to meet her, and as enthusiastic to be a part of the event as the rest of us. We authors ate well too. Janeen and her staff ordered pizza from Vesta’s for us. )

Great Friends

As with my book signing at New York Comic Con, I was incredibly lucky to have a pack of girlfriends come for the event. Some of these ladies woke up at 7:00 a.m. and drove nearly two hours to attend the book signing. They were as thrilled as I was about the event and had just as good a time.

Terrific Authors

In addition to Nora Roberts and me, there were four other authors at the signing:

• Sara Humphreys: Author of Unleashed and the Amoveo Legend books (“What if you suddenly discovered your own powers were beyond anything you’d ever imagined…”)
• Addison Fox: Author of Warrior Enchanted (“Their power: a millenia-old force derived from the zodiac; Their mission: Protect humanity from the darkest of evils.”)
• S.A. Van: Author of CounterPlay (“Deceit and obsession have met their match.”)
• Katrina Shelley: Author of Timeless Melody (a time travel Civil War romance featuring heroine Lyric Taylor)

I bought signed books from each of them, and Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb, which I’ll use for future giveaways — so, even if you weren’t able to make it, you’ll still have a chance to win some of the signed books that were being offered at the event.

Jill Archer, Addison Fox, and Sara Humphreys

Jill Archer and Nora Roberts

Wanna see a fun wrap up video montage of the event put together by Sara Humphreys? Click here. This is the LAST WEEK I’ll be posting about Dark Light of Day. I’m wrapping up the blog tour and will be awarding tour-wide prizes next week!

Have you hosted or attended any good book signings lately? Have you been to Boonsboro, Maryland? Do you like small towns? How about cozy bookstores and historic inns in small towns? (Who doesn’t, right?) I hope everyone had a good weekend. I know some people are still struggling to recover from Hurricane Sandy. I was glad the marathon was called off and that more people have power now. If you haven’t already, consider donating to one of these relief organizations (or your own favorite): Red Cross, United Way, Salvation Army, or the Humane Society. I already gave to the Red Cross, but I’d love to give to the Humane Society too. If you’re an animal lover and want to add to my contribution, just post a comment below. I’ll donate an extra dollar for every comment left until midnight E.S.T. November 13, 2012, up to $50.00. (I don’t think I’ve ever had 50 comments on a post! Who knows? This could be the one!  )