Last weekend I watched pirates swipe ill-gotten gains, mermaids wave at awestruck children, monitor lizards cuddle with cheerful handlers, and authors (myself included) wax poetic about their current and upcoming novels in a night filled with bookish delights. The craziest part? It all happened at the same place!
Now, if you’re wondering how I ended up in such a veritable treasure trove of visual delights, I don’t blame you. Turns out, being an indie author has its perks 😉
So, take yourself back to about two weeks ago. There I was, probably wearing some form of polo shirt, devouring one of the delicious soups my work’s cafeteria makes, and scrolling through my social media feed. My interest—demonstrated by an almost autonomous click response on the like button—was fixated on an upcoming Local Love Author Showcase that I was to be a part of.
This showcase was happening at the very first store I had an author event at, and I was thrilled to go back there and exercise my new bookselling skills—meagre as they may be. The place? A lovely local indie bookstore called Knight’s Nook. (Seriously, if you are ever in Yukon, Oklahoma, check it out; you won’t regret it!) This cozy book nook is run by a husband-and-wife duo who always seem to be in a perpetual state of smiling, and not that fake nonsense smile you see slathered all over the techs at Best Buy. No, this is the look of people who are pursuing their passion.
Anyways, there I was, scrolling through my feed when the wife part of the husband-and-wife duo says to all of us local authors, “Hey, so, The Readers and Dreamers event in Texas was canceled and these guys (Reverie Events) want to do a make up for all those unfortunate souls who were going to attend.”
I thought to myself, What’s a ‘Readers and Dreamers?’
Like a goddess handing out ambrosia, this lady goes on to say, “You all are invited to this new event as well as the Local Love Author Showcase at my store. It’s at the Blue Zoo Aquarium and their calling it Sea of Stories!”
My heart rate goes from happy that I’m eating delicious soup to oh my god, that sounds incredible! But my brain wonders, Am I part of this or did she just notice that all the people that she needed to message were conveniently in one group and send a message, forgetting about Mitch in the corner? Instead of sitting like a little gremlin in the dark, I decide to interject in the chorus of ‘hoorays’ and ‘incredibles,’ “Um, does that include me and others that weren’t a part of the Readers and Dreamers?”
“Yes, it does because we want you to be there, Mitch.” She texts with virtually no delay.
I hope no one was doing a study of my face at that moment because surely I blushed like a ripe tomato—grin stretching from ear to ear. “Thank you!” Is my response and I add ‘awesome aquarium event’ to my list of upcoming events. Then I wonder what in the world does an aquarium have to do with book signings? Boy, was I pleasantly surprised 😊…
Fast forward to March 7th and I have knocked the Local Love showcase out of the park. Five books sold and a social charm engine warmed up and ready for the big ‘awesome aquarium event.’ I even bought a costume.
I arrive at the aquarium, it’s in a mall by the way, but don’t let that dissuade you. It’s one of those places that goes for quality and not quantity. Anyways, I arrive at the mall, Amazon-purchased costume donned, and I bring my author gear in through the back door. Immediately, I am greeted by the smell of fish. I mean, what did you expect? There’s fish. I am also greeted by a plethora of people, ranging from pirate actors and mermaid actresses to authors all as dressed up as me. Yes, mermaids, and yes, they actually swam. It was glorious.
Now this beautiful display was put on by Reverie Events, and I would be remiss if I didn’t give them a shout out. Thank you, Reverie Events! 😊
Before I could let the awe take over, I set up my table, put out my books, bantered a bit with all the people, and then did a looksy at my table from the customer’s POV. All seemed to be in order, and I settled in for the long haul. As soon I sat down, the customers came: ticket holders all in love with books and all as jazzed about pirates and mermaids as I am.
Oh, how I wish I could have been a ray in the tank, because whatever I did worked! I managed to sell out of all of my first book, “Shards of Ember,” and got dangerously close to replicating that success with my second, “The Godstone Decree.” Maybe it was the reef tip sharks, the monitor lizard named Wednesday, the mermaid who swam in the tank, or maybe it was the antics of pirates as they swiped treasure from unsuspecting maidens? Or maybe, just maybe, I have written a good book and finally learned how to describe it.
My spiel? “High fantasy adventure suitable for adults where three sisters have to take on the power games of fickle Greek and Roman style gods.”
Does that interest you? If so, then maybe give the link below a click, you might find your next read. Whatever you choose, thank you for reading about my fishy adventure. Oh, and you should check out The Blue Zoo Aquarium, Reverie Events, and Knight’s Nook. All of them are awesome and all of them deserve some love.
Thank you all for reading! Stay tuned next month for more shorts and tidbits from me.
If you want to hear more from me, feel free to subscribe to my newsletter here or check me out at:
Facebook: Mitchell Lecoultre Author
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Email: mitchleco@hotmail.com
Or if you’re so inclined check out my high fantasy series, Gods Adrift, available on Amazon or possibly through request at your local bookstore (pssst that means its available wholesale to commercial entities through IngramSpark).
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