I'm delighted to welcome to the blog today Rave Reviews Book Club Spotlight Author Micki Peluso. Her well-reviewed memoir, . . . And The Whippoorwhill Sang, is available on Amazon.
"Angel at a Book Signing"
My first book signing was quite an adventure. I had just
recovered from the flu and wasn't feeling too perky. The mall was crowded and
hot, filled with hordes of people intent on finding Valentine presents. Borders
bookstore was running a sale on every best seller, offering half price, buy one,
get one free--so even I would have preferred not to buy my more expensive first
book. Still, as suggested by my publisher, I set up my table, looked pleasantly
classy, and displayed great promo stuff up --along with a gorgeous poster of my
book on a tall easel, just outside the bookstore and in the actual mall. Many
passed by admiring the poster, asking if it was for sale--few stopped to buy
the book. The bargain hunters that day, dressed in less than their finest, seemed
harried and hungry--proven by the way they sneaked valentine chocolate
hearts from my crystal bowl as they dashed past my table. The candy was
free, but it entailed listening to my sales pitch for a book they didn’t seem
inclined to buy.
After an hour I was getting dejected. This was not fun. Root
canal was more fun. I forced family and friends to suffer through it with me
but it still did not even border upon fun. My grandkids with their sweet faces
and big blue eyes handed out flyers and bookmarks, asking people to buy my
book. If that didn’t work I figured nothing would. The potential book buyers
threw away the flyers and kept the bookmarks. I signed and sold about a half
dozen books and was getting hungry and bored, when someone ran up to me, all
smiles and excited. I could not tell if it was a boy, adult or teen. He
introduced himself as John, still smiling that amazing smile on his elfin face.
"I loved your book,' he repeated over and over.”I cried and cried and
cried. "
He didn't
have his book with him so I signed a book plate for him and gave him a bookmark
and a chocolate heart. He leaned over with both arms stretched out to me. I instinctively
reached out and hugged him back, something I would never do to a stranger in a
Mall.
"Don't
you dare stop writing books! You can't not write books. You're a
good writer and you must keep on writing books!" I wondered how he knew
that this was my first book and I didn't plan on another.
“I’ll think
about it,” I said, smiling back at that wonderful face of his. I glanced away for just a second and when I
looked back he was gone. He seemed to disappear as strangely as he’d
appeared. I turned to my daughter who was sitting right behind me and
asked," Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She nodded. This was not
the first time we had encountered an "angel unaware" concerning my
book and the story it relates. Another time was at a cemetery when we were lost
while searching for my younger daughter’s gravesite. There was no way to
explain those beatific smiling faces either time. I had a feeling this would
not be the last encounter. From the moment he left, my energy returned, all
pain left and I was able to continue signing books for another hour and a half,
ending up selling all of them. I hope my angelic being shows up at all my
future book signings. I want to tell John that I have started my next book—but somehow
I think he knows.
Author Bio
Micki Peluso began writing after a personal tragedy. This
lead to a first time publication in Victimology: An International Magazine
and a career in Journalism. She's freelanced and been staff writer for one
major newspaper, written for two more and has published short fiction and
non-fiction, as well as slice of life stories in colleges, magazines and
e-zine editions. Her first book was published in 2012; a funny family memoir of
love, loss and survival, called, . . . And THE WHIPPOORWILL SANG which won the
Nesta CBC Silver Award for ‘Writing That Builds Character’, won third place in
the Predators and Editors Contest and first place for People's
Choice Monthly Award. This book is close to her heart since it’s a
deathbed promise to her dying child. It has the humor of ‘Cheaper by the
Dozen,’ with the heart of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird. Some reviewers liken her
writing to a cross between Erma Bombeck and Harper lee. She has over a
dozen short stories in 'Women's Memoirs', 'Tales2inspire', and 'Creature
Features'. Two of her short horror stories were recently published in an International
Award winning anthology called "Speed of Dark." She
is presently working on a collection of short fiction, and slice of life
stories in a book collection called, 'Don't Pluck the Duck', due to be
released in late 2017. Her first children’s story, ‘The Cat Who Wanted a Dog’
will be released in June of 2017. Author Peluso is a multi-genre and
speculative writer who plans to tackle novels next.
To learn more about Micki Peluso, or to purchase her book, …AND THE WHIPPOORWILL SANG,
please visit:
Twitter: @mickipeluso
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndTheWhippoorwillSang
Website: http://www.mallie1025.blogspot.com/
