And the fun begins ...

Well, this is it. The week Marina Melee makes its real, official debut. It will be released on Wednesday. Friends who've ordered through Amazon have already received their copies, so had my first "book signing" at Zen Asian Fusion on Thursday - Cindy received her copy that day and brought it for an autograph. That's when I saw the Westof story:

http://www.westof.net/main.test.php?category=arts&id=215

Warren did an awesome job of capturing the story and me - and hopefully drumming up some more interest in the book! Thanks Warren and Lorne!

I have a booksigning at Undercover Books in St. Croix on Thursday, 6/30 from 5:30-6:30 p.m., and will (hopefully) be setting the date and time for a signing at Dockside Books in St. Thomas in the next week. I am also going to check with Sean about doing a booksigning at The Pirate's Chest at Paradise Point, too. That's the promotion in the Virgin Islands. I still need to get some more Charleston publicity, so I'll return to Blue Bicycle Books on Monday to see if they'll carry it and host a booksigning, and check with Barnes and Noble about setting up a booksigning.

As exciting as all this is, my stomach is in knots. What if people don't like it? What if my "muses" aren't amused by their fictitious counterparts? What if the reviewers hate it? Marina Melee is fiction, but it's MY fiction. Publishing it and making it available to the world (okay, that's grandiose, but to the public) puts me out there. It isn't about me, but it is. It's about the people and place I love. It's about the things and events that shaped me. It's an homage to my adopted home, to my friends, to my life and the lives of the islanders and boating community. I hope people take it as such.

I hope they like it. I hope you all like it.