Tag: New England Authors Expo

Mary Ann and me

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, author, books, italian, Karen's Kitchen, local fun

Mary mary-ann-espositoAnn Esposito and I go way back. Okay, sort of.

I met her in real life at a Stonewall Kitchen Cooking School event in 2008. (Also, once I saw her at the Market Basket, but I didn’t actually talk to her. Does that count?)

I really met her for the first time in my younger years, watching her on TV. She hosted  Ciao Italia on PBS. Years later, I watched all the reruns, too.

She is a skilled, wonderful cook, as anyone who has ever watched Ciao Italia knows. She was as warm and funny and caring in person as she was on TV.

I’m Italian, as anyone who knows me knows. I learned so much not only about cooking, but about life and how to live it from my Italian nana, Mary. Meeting Mary Ann, watching her cook in the Stonewall Kitchen Cooking School’s cucina, gave me back that feeling of being with my grandmother in her kitchen again for a few hours.
Being with your people: Priceless.

Anyway, Mary Ann Esposito is also an author. The Stonewall event was a cooking class and a book signing. She was kind enough to sign my book, and gracious enough to pose for a photo with me. Here’s how much it meant to me: I was able to put my hand on this photo of us from 2008 literally in seconds. I knew exactly where it was.

I am beyond excited to tell you that she will be at the New England Authors Expo March 31st event: 2017 Authors Night by the Sea, in Portsmouth, NH, signing her books. I will be there, too, signing my novel, One Brave Thing.

And visiting with Mary Ann. Maybe I’ll even get another photo with her.

Life’s funny, isn’t it?

me-and-mary-ann-on-the-authors-list

Click here for the information, if you want to come!

 

Taping an interview for TV

by Karen, posted in author, books, Brave books, Fashion Sense, friends, Interviews, no fear, writing

It was my great pleasure and good fortune to be invited to be on Write Now with Gayle Heney.  I met Gayle at the New England writenow3Authors Expo last summer. After the taping date was confirmed, a helpful email arrived with instructions for how to get there, what to wear, where to park…

But back to that ‘what to wear’ part. The part where it mentioned to avoid wearing black because that was the color of the backdrop of the set. Oh, and a collar or a lapel of some sort would be good so there is a place to clip the microphone.

If you want to discover really quickly how much you think “Black! I’ll wear black!” when you are in a dress -up situation, be advised not to wear that color.

I realized pretty quickly that I was, you know, in big trouble. Plus, collars? Lapels? I was bereft of them.

I tortured my friend Sheila with photos of dress and sweater combinations. Right up until a half hour before I left for the studio this morning. In the end, it wasn’t about the clothes at all, because it was about the BOOK. I was getting to talk on TV with a skilled interviewer who had read my book, about my book.

How great is that?

My episode should air in April or May. I will post the link when it’s ready! YAY!

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Top 10 reasons to attend The New England Authors Expo

by Karen, posted in author, books, Brave books, friends, Life's too short to read bad books

I went to The New England Authors Expo this week at The Danversport Yacht Club in (you guessed it) Danvers, MA. It was a hot summer day, and I was hopeful that the masses would like to get out of the hot sun and into the cool a/c, but not a whole lot did. The good news Expo swagis that the readers who did make the effort to attend were amazing! We all appreciate it so much (thank you Robin, Sheila, Chrissy and Scott!) when our friends come out to support our writing!

I also am so blessed to have the support  of my family. My husband, Bill, and my daughter, Izzy, spent the entire day with me, helping me get set up, keeping me fed and watered, and helping me connect with readers (yep; still shy). My son, Anthony, encourage me from afar via technology. Thank you so much!

Plus I made several new friends and met many terrific writers. I love how my book, One Brave Thing, has connected me to so many other people (and books!) that I might never have known otherwise.

I am loving every minute of this!

Maybe you should come to the next Expo.

Top 10 Reasons to Attend the Next New England Authors Expo:

  1. You will learn a lot.
  2. Your isolated writer-ly life will be broken open.
  3. Colleagues! You have them! They are at The Expo! (Jennifer Davies, Jennifer W. Smith)
  4. Attend panel discussions! You will always learn at least new thing. I took pages of notes that I am looking forward to reviewing (Hello, free time? It’s Karen. I miss you…).
  5. See what your fellow authors are doing to market their writing.
  6. Show other authors what YOU are doing to market YOUR writing.
  7. Get cool author swag (Check out the photo above)!
  8. Learn some new social media strategies–and what to avoid doing.
  9. You can offer to trade books (and reviews!) with other authors and then you have some excellent reads for the near future!

And the top 10 reason is:

10. You will have so much fun!!! 🙂

I came away from this event so inspired with ideas on how to market my book and to help my readers. I received an invitation to a free online webinar (note to self: register for free online webinar!), so the learning continues even once you get home. I met Gayle C. Heney, who talked to me about her program Write Now. I received an invitation to be on Be My Guest!, a program for writers hosted by Jan Lewis (stay tuned for details as the become available).

Inspiration? It’s a wonderful thing!

Here is a video from an Authors Expo from years past, to give you a flavor of what it’s like:

My first book signing

by Karen, posted in author, books, writing

I found out at the last minute New England Authors Expo having an author event last Friday night. Fortunately, it wasn’t too late to participate! I had fun and met some very nice people!

Izzy and Me at NE Authors Expo

I brought my books and my daughter came to help me.

Highlights:

  1. One woman said my book is “exactly the kind of book she loves to read” (unfortunately, she said she had already spent all her money before she got to my table! Oh well. Maybe she’ll buy it on Amazon. Maybe you will too! Here’s the link: http://www.amazon.com/One-Brave-Thing-K…/dp/1523347899)
  2.  I got to see how the more experienced authors set up their tables and how they talked to the customers. I got to talk to other self published authors about their process compared to my own.
  3. I also tested out my second (not yet published) book’s title out and got some great responses.
  4. Everyone loves chocolate. 🙂
Overall, a wonderful way to have spent a Friday night!
My book is also available in Maine at Annie’s Book Stop in Wells, Nonesuch Books in Biddeford, Longfellow Books in Portland. In New Hampshire you can find it at RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth by 3/25/16.