Book Signing- Jennifer Adele

Last week I attended a book signing at a fantastic small local bookstore, The Archive. The event was part of the "Exquisite Corpse Reading Series" and featured several local authors. This, hopefully, will become a monthly event, with other local authors, musicians, and artists being featured. This event was promoting the recent release of The Haunting of Willow Tree Court by Jennifer Adele, who, in addition to being a great storyteller, is also my friend.

I hadn't had a chance to get into this particular bookstore since moving back to town, so I was excited to see the place. The building is old, like many in the neighborhood, and it used to be a bakery. The inside was warm and welcoming, lined with old books and featuring locally produced artwork on it's walls. There are several rooms filled with bookshelves in addition to a basement area.

I went along not only to support Jennifer, but to help her get things set up. That was quickly done, she'd brought a table and the bookstore provided plenty of chairs. Candles and incense helped set the mood.

People trickled in, and by the time the reading was due to start, it was standing room only. Andrea, the store's owner, introduced the program and lowered the lights for ambience, and then Jennifer read an excerpt from her book The Haunting of Willow Tree Court.

From the website: "A modern-day, dark, adult fairy tale… a suspenseful ghost story like you’ve never read before!…
Three years ago a near fatal car crash left Sally Archer crippled and childless. Now, with her life in tatters and her freedoms taken away, she is moved to a new home by her husband, to a house on Willow Tree Court. But, Willow Tree Court is no ordinary place, and her house has a long and unusual history. As if by magic, the extraordinary begins to unravel itself in a pattern as old as time, and both the beautiful and the macabre take hold, refusing to let go. Sally soon learns that places are haunted as much by the living as they are by the dead."

There were four other local authors who read from their works as well. I am terrible with names, and I didn't have a pen to write them down, but I'm sure if you contact the Archive, they can let you know about the others and their work. Some of the authors were quite good, some were less experienced, but still interesting. One poet kept us laughing with his interesting little "observations".

During the intermission, a local musician, Tory Z. Starbuck, kept us entertained by playing the koto, a Japanese harp. It was really interesting and avant garde, and the instrument itself was beautiful. Tory has a quick wit and I enjoyed talking to him. Catch him playing around town!

The event was well organized and there were over a hundred people who attended. It was amazing and fantastic to see so many people coming out to support local artists!

The event wound down with Jennifer reading a second excerpt from her book. Afterward, people milled around and socialized until the store closed down around 11pm. It didn't take long to get things packed up and loaded back into the car at the end of the night.

I had a great time, there were plenty of people I knew from other social groups, and I made some new connections as well. It was lovely meeting Andrea, the Archive's owner, and I also enjoyed connecting with other local writers. Now that I'm finally getting back into my fiction writing, it's good to have people I can talk to, who completely understand the creative process.

You can find Jennifer Adele's book at The Archive, as well as online at Amazon and CreateSpace. Check out her website for more details. You can find free downloadable short stories and other info about Jennifer and her work at the site as well. I'm working on the review of Willow Tree for Tracy Riva Books and Reviews, and will post the link here once it's up.

Most of these pics were taken by me, however a couple were "snatched" from Jennifer's facebook page!