An Award Winning Weekend

This past weekend marked an incredible milestone for my adventure into the realm of being a published author. I was privileged to win two awards for the first book of the Peg Shaw series—Hot Flashes/Cold Cases. The award ceremony was held Saturday night during the Texas Authors Marketing event in San Antonio, Texas.

The weekend was filled with vital information for authors and focused mainly on marketing our books. The dirty little secret about being an author is the fact that writing a book is the easy bit. Marketing is foreign to many Indie authors, which is why the teaching sessions were so important. Every speaker shared an unbelievable amount of information, which was designed to help us move through the book-marketing world.

B Alan Bourgeois organizes this exceptional event each year and everyone who attended owes him a debt of gratitude. The presenters were of the highest quality and knew their subjects inside and out. Every hour was jammed packed with a nice variety of subject matter. Shanalee Sharboneau taught us how to maneuver through the world of media, while Sandy Lawrence explained the how and why of publicity. We learned how to submit a manuscript to a publisher from David Roberts and how to be ready for interviews taught by Rox Burkey and Charlotte Canion.

Saturday night was the jewel of the weekend starting with a delicious meal and wonderful time of socializing followed by the awards presentation. Hot Flashes/Cold Cases won for both best in my genre (Supernatural Mystery) and best cover design. Winning was not only a surprise for me but a great honor. What made it extra special was my sister was with me. She is the first to read anything I write and I trust her critique and analysis of each and every book. Don’t tell her but I would be lost without her.

We were able to spend the off hours in the beautiful city of San Antonio, known not only for the Alamo but also for the beautiful River Walk. The San Antonio River runs through the middle city surrounded by shops, wonderful restaurants, and the chance to ride the tourist boats down the river. Everything was wonderful but of all the things we enjoyed the most… let’s just say every restaurant we entered left me a few pounds heavier as the food was beyond delicious. Luckily, our hotel was situated on the River Walk so driving in the downtown area construction was not necessary. We simply walked everywhere we went.

The entire weekend was wonderful and one that I will hold dear forever. Thanks Alan for such a great opportunity!