A Midwest Welcome

As you all know from my last post, I am currently in the Midwest on my book tour for Insane Roots. It has been just amazing! For a debut author, I was pleasantly surprised to receive such a royal welcome.

I had expected a good turn out seeing as I have a large network of friends in Madison, but I was blown away by the number of strangers who attended. My first event was at the Barnes & Noble in West Towne mall. They had a nice table set up in the front of the store and before I even sat down there was a woman and her daughter waiting for me. I introduced myself and talked with them about the book for quite a while exchanging stories of struggle and triumph in our lives. It felt so wonderful to be able to connect with them and to see the excitement in the daughter’s eyes as she asked to have her photo taken with me. I am the first author she has ever met, how sweet is that! 🙂

The rest of the day followed suite. Person after person came up and talked with me. The entire time I was there I barely had a lull. One particular young lady really pulled on my heart strings. A woman walked past slowly and I could see that the book had caught her eye. I greeted her and asked her to please let me know if she had any questions. She then asked, “Is this your own personal story?”

“Sure is!” I replied.

Her eyes lit up as she asked me to hold on while she grabbed a young lady (maybe 12-13) and asked her to come over. As it turns out, this was a girl who has struggled not with a mother’s deception, but a father’s. She thanked me for sharing my story, because up until this point she had always felt so alone when it came to the struggles she has faced growing up with a con-artist as a father. I told her that the best thing she can do to deal with the anger and disappointment is to remember that it is not her fault and the way he is doesn’t mean he loves her any less. And I also told her how writing this book helped me to look for the positive aspects of my mother and focus on the good that has come from her behavior. I could see that had sparked something in her. When she smiled back at me, it almost took my breath away.

For the first time in my life I really felt like I was making a difference. My intention in writing my memoir was never to become a rich, it was for moments like these 🙂

Thank you all so much for your love and support!