I’d heard about and seen amazing photos of Barbara Vey’s famous Reader Appreciation Weekend in Milwaukee, WI, but I’d never had the good fortune to attend. So imagine my delight when Barbara extended an invitation to be a participating author this year. Woohoo!
Because the main event is a luncheon where authors decorate their tables to the nth degree, I got my creative mojo revving right away.
What do I write about? Billionaires! Cute puppies! Why not combine the two? I had so much fun designing sparkly necklaces and choosing the most adorable stuffed dogs to model them. I got a sequined table topper and my publisher generously supplied me with Advance Reading Copies of my July release, SECOND TIME AROUND. Here’s how my table came out:
Here’s the dining room being prepared for the luncheon with all the incredible decorations. My fellow authors showed such creativity–not surprising, right?
I thought you’d like to see some of the other tables too.
Here’s my Sister Author, Nancy Naigle, whose latest books have a Christmas theme. Her antlers had flashing holiday lights.
Shirley Hailstock made these fabulous wreaths herself! Doesn’t her table look magical?
Elicia Hyder’s latest series is set in the world of roller derby. Loved that her hair matches her table colors!
The lovely Marina Adair puts the finishing touches on her wine country and cupcakes table.
But there was lots more fun to be had. I played Book Bingo, Romance Jeopardy, Mad Libs, and led my group in writing part of a progressive romance novel, which got pretty entertaining.
There was also breakfast on Sunday morning, where we got all blinged up .
The cover of my novella, SECOND TO NONE, was stitched into the fabulous quilt that was raffled off to support cancer research. That’s me with our hostess with the mostest, Barbara Vey (center), and the fabulous blogger P.J. Ausdenmore (right). You can see my book cover just over P.J.’s left shoulder.
Since I’d never been to Milwaukee before, I treated myself to a tour of the city on Sunday. They have the most spectacular art museum, designed by the famous architect, Santiago Calatrava. It sits right on the shore of Lake Michigan, a very dramatic setting.
You see the wings? They open and close. I missed the opening but I made sure to be there at 5 o’clock when they fold down.
It was so cool to watch!
Milwaukee has some wonderful old buildings. This is the Pfister Hotel.
Milwaukee also has wonderful beer! A very kind reader gave me the gift of a six-pack of Spotted Cow and now it’s my new favorite brew. Alas, it is available only in Wisconsin.
Finally, I did the tourist thing and visited the bronze Fonz, Milwaukee’s most famous fictional resident.
Fonzie and I agree: BVW18 gets a big thumbs-up!
