Party Time!

Yesterday was Cold Feet’s launch, and we had a party!

Despite the weather – big wet snowflakes fell all day – family and friends gathered at McIntyre’s Fine Books in Fearrington Village, Pittsboro.

In addition to all the lovely book displays and cozy reading nooks, McIntyre’s provides visiting authors a big reading room lined with mysteries.

And possibly a reader who overstayed his welcome.

So here’s how the party went.

The bookstore’s buyer, Pete Mock, introduced me and Cold Feet.

Then I blathered on for about 30 minutes . . .my journey to publication  . . . the book’s themes (marriage and food, which I realized after I wrote the book – they must be constantly on my mind without my realizing it) . . . reading from Chapter 1 . . . my research into the drug underworld . . .another excerpt.  Then people asked questions – thank you thank you, a dead silence would have been so embarrassing – and I tried to answer.

We had door prizes!  A pair of fluffy pink socks (so someone wouldn’t have cold feet), a bookstore gift certificate, a cake (more about that below).  Two lucky people each took home a dozen yellow roses that had decorated the food table.

People bought books, I signed books, and there was food.   I am so grateful to my son-in-law Derek and daughter Melissa for preparing, presenting, and serving all the food. Smoked salmon bites, herbed cheese in endive, shrimp cocktail, assorted cheeses, cheese-salami rolls, artichoke-spinach dip & baguette slices, and blackberry jam cake.

It was a wonderful spread and I didn’t have to lift a finger.

To drink: Prosecco, red wine, and fizzy water. I guess everyone enjoyed themselves, because when the party was over, all I took home was a tiny plate of cheese and two bottles (out of a case) of wine!

I slaved in a hot kitchen the day before to make three jam cakes with butterscotch glaze. The idea for serving blackberry jam cake came from Cold Feet.  On page 136, Camilla, an innkeeper, serves a piece to Stella:

Melting in my mouth, the cake was moist and tender with hints of cinnamon and chocolate. . . “What is that flavor?” “The secret ingredient is blackberry jam,” [Camilla] said. 

This cake was a success; two were devoured entire. Here‘s the recipe that I used.

Normally, my life is highly compartmentalized — the B&B, family, writing friends, other friends, my gym, my town, my neighbors.

Yesterday all the fragments came together to celebrate my accomplishment. I am so utterly grateful to everyone who braved the weather to attend Cold Feet‘s birthday bash!