Like I promised, all though a little late, I wanted to write a little bit about the event that I had attended. The Illinois Author Dinner that was held late September in the Navy Pier Grand Ballroom, Chicago, IL.
It was, without a doubt, one of the greatest experiences of my life. I had to admit, I was a bit amazed at some of the authors that were there in my presence. Prior to the night, I wasn’t aware of the names of some of the authors that were there. But I had to admit, they were all quite impressive. They’ve made progress into areas that I am still working on getting into, and they have my utmost respect.
I think the highlight was being able to be introduced to all these people. Librarians of all sorts, and members of agencies and companies far and wide were present, all who turned their eyes in interest to anyone who was able to be present as an author that evening. Dr. Richard Darga, the Dean of the Library at Chicago State, was the one who introduced me to the crowd. It was an interesting experience, being the youngest author there and the youngest person there all together. It sparked a lot of interest and questions by people, and even the President of the ILA and ALA (Illinois and American Library Association) spoke with me about being happy to have me present tonight. I was honored beyond all words.
Now that the Chicago portion of the tour is over, the book will continue to travel across the United States for the remainder of the year, finishing off the tour in San Diego, CA around the middle of November. Hopefully, the rest of the visits will be just as large success as Chicago was, as well as more to follow it.
As of right now, with the exception of the tour, there are currently no events scheduled for the book. This is something that we’re going to need to change together. It takes more than just my abilities as an author to put on great events for fans, and to get the word out. If anyone can think of anything, please don’t hesitate to email me and we can put two and two together to make something great. I am always willing (and would rather) do events where portions of money raised, books sold, etc go to some form of charity or benefit.
In other news, I’m working hard on getting the sequel to the first book finished up. The Renegade Union is almost completed, I just need a good weekend where I can sit down and work on it where I’m not bogged up by homework and studying, and then I’d be set. I’m actually planning on getting it done over this weekend if possible to finish it. I have a bit more free time than I thought. If not, Thanksgiving is the big break to finish it. From there, I’m hoping my editor and myself can take advantage of winter break and get the book edited. Then over the spring semester at Chicago State, I’ll be coordinating with the publisher to get the book released by the summertime. Hopefully I can get it done in time for a big event here in Chicago, or even back home in Ohio. We’ll see how things go. Keeping the faith and the heart in it is the only fuel that will keep the book thriving the way it does.
And to all the fans, thank you for all the support. Please keep up the good heart and keep the word spreading out. The more we do together, the more the series will grow and catch the hearts of others as well. If it wasn’t for you, this series wouldn’t have made it nearly as far as it has now. There’s still a lot more ground to cover, but rest assured that your support is never taken for granted. You’ve brought us to where we stand now, which is a lot further than I ever dreamed possible when the idea came to me when I started almost ten years ago.
