I am so excited to announce that The Six Train to Wisconsin is a finalist for EPIC’s Ebook Awards 2014 in the paranormal category! The winner will be announced in March. So I get to savor being a finalist for 5 months. 🙂
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The Hart House event on October 10th was a wonderful night!
Photo by Lily Hum
Stephanie Kang spent months working with me to make it all come together. She was there every step of the way down to helping me lay out the display table and figure out the format for the night.
10,000 thank yous to Steph for making it such a magical literary evening.
We had about 25 people in the audience. This was one of the best coordinated and organized events of my entire book tour because of Steph and the amazing people at Hart House.
My amazing former coworkers (Igleka, Lily, Max, & Johnny SOX) and good friends came out to support me. They sat in the front row and eased my nerves as I spoke without consulting my notes.
Photo by Ashton Price
My blog buddy Catherine Forsley and her musical partner Ashton Price came and sat in the front row too!
Photo by Lily Hum
I loved the atmosphere and setting of Hart House. They set me up in their library. Beautiful wood work and gorgeous stone fireplace.
It was my first time speaking off the cuff. I was pretty nervous. Either my hands were flying around or gripping themselves. But I realized the audience is more engaged when I’m engaging with them and not a piece of paper.
Everyone enjoyed my reading so much so that they asked for an encore. The Q&A was a lively back and forth. Lots of fantastic questions. It was awesome to have such an attentive audience. Torontonians are the best.
The signing went well too. I sold 10 books. Woohoo.
I also made several new friends and I hope to hear from my U of T friends soon!
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My final book tour event is this Wednesday, October 23rd from 6-8 pm at Salon 2b in Manhattan. If you’re in the city, please drop by.
Wine, cheese, and fruit will be served along with a short reading from the novel and a Q&A about the story.
For the first time ever, my photography from the book will be for sale. A portion of the profits from this evening’s book and photo sales will be donated to benefit the Dynamite Youth Center.
This is the last stop on the Six Train book tour, ending where it all began.
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The final sales numbers are in for September, I sold 63 books.
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I am behind in my blog reading, I will be catching up soon. My apologies–I was traveling Oct 9-13 and then I got a bad chest cold Oct 14-19. I needed to rest up for my next event so some things fell behind. I promise to catch up very soon!
Ooh, congratulations on being a finalist, that’s fab!
I agree about not having notes – I sometimes have to give presentations at work, and I find that if I have notes they become a crutch, and I spend my whole time looking at them rather than engaging with the audience, so I don’t do that anymore. I think it’s more genuine sounding as well if you do it from memory because you have had to internalise it in some way, rather than just reading. Good for you, glad it went well!
Thanks! 🙂
I do prefer notes for a workshop. Especially if it’s going 30+ minutes. I don’t think I’m ready to part with them yet for that. But for an author talk. I know my book inside and out and I know me even better, so it’s just a matter of controlling nerves so I don’t blank out. 🙂 I’m going to go noteless again on Wednesday in NYC. 😉 Fingers are crossed! And I agree you need to personalize it and make eye contact. I was at a marketing conference in October and they speakers didn’t use notes and that made it so much more engaging to me.
Congratulations on a great accomplishment. I’m cheering you on!
Hope you’re feeling better too. Chest colds are scary. Take care of yourself!
Thanks Mae! I’m much better. Still a little raspy in the throat but not coughing so yay! 🙂 I find if I take to bed for a couple days I get better faster.
Sounds fantastic Kourtney. Hope you are feeling better!!
Thanks Arlene. 🙂 Definitely on the other side of being sick. Brain is functioning crisply again. I hate mushy mind.
Congrats. That Sounds Amazing. Book Is Awesome. A Must Read!!!!!!!
Thanks! It’s been a very cool October. 🙂 Especially for Six Train!
Congrats on wrapping up your book tour and for being a finalist in the EPIC awards. Wonderful news on both counts.
Although I’m the last person to notice fashion, I LOVE the blue top you’re wearing in those pictures. Is that black embroidery on the sleeve? Very pretty. And like I said, for me to notice, it must be a great top!
Thanks Carrie! 🙂
Aw thank you. It’s actually just a print on the sleeves. It’s from Anthropologie. All the really gorgeous clothes I wore when I lived in NY don’t get pulled out often because I live with 3 golden retrievers and they’d destroy them. 🙂 It’s really comfy and I feel confident in it.
Well, it looks great. 🙂
Thanks! There’s something about Anthropologie clothes they flatter my figure. 😉
So much exciting news in this post. I clicked on your link to Hart House to get an idea of what it’s all about. Looks like a wonderful cultural center. Best of luck this week on the final book tour stop. Seems apropos.
What a busy month! Hart House is a gorgeous student center that pulses with campus activity. Cat Forsley introduced it to me as a venue. So grateful she did. Thanks. I’m excited and nervous. As always. I’m glad timing worked that my last stop is in the city where Six Train was born. Definitely apropos. 😉
WOOOOhooooooHOOOOOOOOhoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 🙂 🙂 🙂 <3 <3 <3
cheerleading again 🙂 even on a monday ? WHAT 🙂 xxxx
congrats xxxx
and I AM SO GLAD i was there at HART house …………….
amazing K heart xxxx
<3 <3 <3 <3
C xo
Thanks Catherine! Very excited! 🙂 <3
I know what a nice way to start a Monday. 🙂
So so happy we could share HH!
xoxoxoxox
K
HH = Heintz = Hart 🙂
coincidences that would Make COACH JANINE blush xo xo xo xo xo xo <3 C
LOL. Perfect together. 🙂 Indeed. 😉 xoxoxox
YEA! YEA! So much great stuff happening!
Have to admit that stone fireplace is pretty wonderful. (And Cat was there – fun!)
Take care of yourself – the outfit does look just perfect.
It’s really cool when I can announce good stuff. 🙂 That building, it was so amazing to be inside something that beautiful. Made me feel even more like an author. Cat was a big bonus. 🙂
Aw thank you. Sometimes, I like to pull out my old expensive clothes and play dress up. Most days are jeans and tshirts at my desk. I’m all mended up from last week. Sometimes my body just decides it has had enough and lets me know.
Congratulations on the nomination and the continued touring. You’ll deserve a break after the final event, that’s for sure 🙂
I’ve had previous jobs where I’ve had to run events and it is so much better to fly without the notes. The more you’ve done the more your confidence has obviously grown. Well done to you 🙂
Thanks Pete. It’s been quite an experience. I definitely felt more of a connection. I’ve always been afraid of public speaking so the notes were my way of feeling more in control. But after a while, I realized I need to learn to talk without them. 🙂 Thanks. Practice makes perfect.
Congratulations, what great news!!
I can’t imagine talking to groups of people, I’d be a mess!
Thanks Laura. It’s hard. I do it for the book. And it gets easier. I still get jitters and nerves and I need to prep a lot. I definitely got a lot of practice this year.
Congratulations on being a finalist, Kourtney! Hope you’re feeling better, now. Sounds like you’ve had a whirlwind time!
Thanks Mayumi! I’m so happy for Six Train. Yes, I’m much better now. Just have to focus on preparing for last event. It’s been a crazy hectic time. I really appreciate that I get to stay close to home in Nov and Dec.
What a fabulous-looking venue for a stop on the book tour! And congratulations again on being an Epic finalist—you and the Six Train definitely are deserving of it. Have fun on the last stop, and then get back to the writing! 😀
Jacqueline it was the best venue ever. And such a terrific audience. Aw thank you–I so want to see Six Train do well. I’m excited for the last event and jittery. You never know how they will go and they go so fast when they are going well. Writing, yes, I do want to get back to that. I may take a week or two off after this last event. Depends on how things go with my schedule. 😉 But the writing is big for Nov-Jan.
Oh, Kourtney, I am so happy for you!
Thanks Naomi! I’m so so glad that I went to Hart House and had that magical evening. Then finding out Six Train finaled in EPIC’s book awards. It’s been a good month. 🙂
Congratualtions on such a great evenet, and also on being an EPIC Ebook Finalist 🙂
You looked very stylish and I also noticed the blue top – it’s gorgeous, a great choice – and intuitive unless you already knew that blue is the colour of communication, and deliberately chose it for that reason 🙂
Thanks! 🙂
I love that top and I try to wear things that make me feel comfortable and confident. I had a great panel at Killer Nashville in that top so I felt like it was “lucky”. 😉 I didn’t know that about blue but i will definitely remember it.
Woot, woot! Way to go Kourtney!! Fingers crossed until March… which may make typing hard, but I’ll do it for you. 😉
LOL. Thanks! Can you cross your toes? Just don’t walk on them that way. 😉
I’ve got my eyes crossed!
Please don’t drive! 😉 Thanks for your dedication!
yay! Congrats on being a finalist. Your hard work and belief in yourself and your book is paying off.
Thanks! I submitted Six Train back in May. So when the email came, I was thrilled and surprised. It kinda fell off my radar. 😉