The official kickoff event for my collection Irredeemable happened this past Saturday at Joseph Beth Booksellers. As you might recall, I was a bit nervous.

How did it go?

Rather well.

I’d guess around 30 people showed up. The crowd was a mix of family, friends, Apex supporters, and even a couple of strangers. My publisher, Stephen Zimmer, opened the event by giving away a whole bunch of free books from Seventh Star Press. Free stuff is cool.

After a blush-inducing introduction by Stephen, I took the mic. I made jokes. A couple of the jokes even drew laughs! I proceeded to talk briefly about an English teacher I had back in high school named Mr. Jones. Then I proceeded to read “Yellow Warblers” as it is the only story in Irredeemable that wouldn’t upset the children. Nobody wants to upset the children.

After the reading, I gave out some door prizes from Apex Publications: mugs, T-shirts, and books! Free stuff is cool!

Then the fun part happened. I sat behind a table and people lined up to have copies of Irredeemable signed. After I signed their book, they got a free homemade chocolate chip cookie (made by Janet Harriett).

Finally, the activities at Joseph Beth ended around 6pm. A small group of ten of us went to Giuseppe’s and enjoyed some of the best Italian food Lexington has to offer. We drank grasshoppers and talked writing until 9:30pm.

I get home. Take my shoes off. And by 10:30pm I’m dozing off on the couch.

What did I learn from my first signing?

1) Chocolate chip cookies are POPULAR!

2) People seem to appreciate the door prizes.

3) I have work to do regarding shifting intonations in my reading. I’m still a bit flat. I might take a workshop at the Carnegie to help with this.

4) You’ll never know who will show up.

5) About 1/3rd the people who promise you they’ll come won’t.

6) People love the cover of Irredeemable.

Overall, I had a blast. I hope to do one more signing in Lexington later this summer.