Book Club Meetings-2 in 1 day

Hello all, I pray that all of you have had a wonderful and prosperous weekend. And speaking of weekends, I'd like to share what mine was like. 1st., I must go back to Saturday, Feb 14th. I was all set to have a book signing for my novel, 'A Man's Worth', @ the Borders book store in Evergreen Park. But I received a call from my publicist, early that morning, informing me that the book store had sold out of all the books that were ordered for the signing. Mixed emotions overcame me. While I was extremely happy that every book was sold, I was also very saddened that I wouldn't get a chance to greet and thank the folks for their support. However, since I had made a commitment to appear @ the book store, I went anyhow and was grateful for the few that had brought their books back for me to sign. Fast forwarding to this past Saturday, Feb 21st, I had the pleasure of being the guest of honor @ the Centennial Church on East 43rd Street in Chicago for their monthly book club meeting. I was told that A Man's Worth had been the topic of many discussions for weeks leading up to the meeting and the members had to force themselves to save all comments for when I got there. From the moment we walked through the church doors, my dear friend, Latricia Collins, and I were showered with love, warmth and plenty of good food. I was amazed @ how much attention to detail was paid regarding the foot fetish my character, Randall Loomis, had with pretty feet in pretty stilettos. The women of Centennial had adorned my table with little pretty stilettos. I was especially in awe of how many women (approximately 40) actually were in attendance to take part in the book discussion. For nearly 3 hrs, every emotion was pulled as we dug deep into the novel. I was even brought to tears when a Mother told me that I was doing something great with my writing. It was a true honor for me to shake the hands of the women who embraced me and my characters. They even sent me home with a gift, my favorite dessert, chocolate covered strawberries. After Centennial, Latricia and I drove further south to Matteson, Il, where we met up with ladies from Salem Baptist Church who afforded A Man's Worth the honor of being their very 1st. book club meeting choice. When we arrived @ a beautiful home, the hostess asked me not to introduce myself as the author just yet because the women present had no idea that the author was invited. I must admit, I had fun blending in with the women, introducing myself as 'Felicia'. I had a chance to sit, mingle and ask questions about the novel and really get to the nitty-gritty on how people felt about it. I was blown away when I asked a lady, "So, did you enjoy the book?" She looked @ me and said, "Girl, yeah, I couldn't put it down. I can't wait til the next one." My heart was bursting as I heard tidbits of conversations all around me about how my book kept their pages turning. Before the meeting was called to order, a game was played where I, Felicia, was to present the winner with her gift. As I handed the gift over to a lady, I asked her name then confessed that I was the author of A Man's Worth. At that moment, mouths were dropped open and the room roared with 'Oh, my God' and 'What' and 'Really'? Suddenly, I had copies of my novel shoved @ me requesting my signature. Again, I was blown away @ the attention to detail because there was a cake created in the image of the cover of A Man's Worth. Sharing the story of Pastor Cordell Bryson, Randall Loomis, and Amaryllis Price, with the women of Salem was a proud moment for me. Listening to the ladies take turns stating what they got out of the book was very overwhelming. Even the hostess, whose name I won't mention, confessed to skipping church and staying home to read because she couldn't put the book down. I was told that my book could easily be a movie and I'm giving best-selling author, Terry McMillan, a run for her money. I'm a true believer that what comes from the heart, reaches the heart. So, I end this blog with many thanks to my readers, fans and supporters. All I can do @ this point is advise everyone to buckle down and fasten your seat belts because the release of my next book, Amaryllis, will hit the book stores on April, 1st. The character you all love to hate is back!

Happy reading,

Kita