Saturday, April 21st was a special day as it was my first Reading at Chapters - the biggest book store in Regina, Saskatchewan.
Chapters in Regina, Saskatchewan, 2012
The event was planned by the Saskatchewan Romance Writers (SRW) who were reading from their newly published anniversary anthology, Love, Loss and Other Oddities. Although I'm not a contributor of the anthology, I am a member of the SRW and therefore was asked to participate.
Chapters' staff set up 30 chairs and a podium in their reading area in front of the fireplace. It was a cozy spot, but soon became congested as more chairs were needed. We'd all brought family and friends, but numerous customers, out on Saturday forays, stopped by to listen. Some sat and some stood, but all contributed to a welcome attitude to the 5 readers.
Chapters' staff set up 30 chairs and a podium in their reading area in front of the fireplace. It was a cozy spot, but soon became congested as more chairs were needed. We'd all brought family and friends, but numerous customers, out on Saturday forays, stopped by to listen. Some sat and some stood, but all contributed to a welcome attitude to the 5 readers.
Karyn Good at the podium, Annette Bower, Jessica Eissfeldt, and Jana Richards, left to right facing the audience. Photo by Anita Mae Draper
In determining our reading order, I asked to go last because I was planning to ask for audience feedback and I didn't want anything to distract the audience from another reader.
A time limit of 8 mins for each of the 5 readers meant I was able to read the first 5 pages of my historical romance, Emma's Outlaw. Although I drank plenty of water beforehand, my mouth quickly dried. I had a water bottle behind me, but once I started reading, didn't want to lose the avid audience' attention so didn't reach for it. Within the first couple paragraphs, I had to remind myself to breathe, too.
When I was done, I told the audience that my agent wanted feedback of what they'd heard and every person who returned a card would get a chance to win a copy of the Love, Loss and Other Oddities which the other readers had read from.
I then handed out pens and the questions I'd printed on cardstock which made it easy for them to write on since the cardstock is thicker than regular paper. Twenty-six cards were returned and from those a winner was chosen.
In the photo above, my husband, Nelson, is sitting in the wooden chair babysitting my camera which taped the whole reading. I'll add my portion of the video as soon as I can, depending on my agent's permission.
If you were one of the people attending the Chapters' Reading, thank you for your support.
