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- Column - From the Trenches - |
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September 3, 2000 A Diva’s Diary By Susan McBride Author of And Then She Was Gone The concept for The Deadly Divas - a group of four new female mystery authors - was born last year after several months of promoting And Then She Was Gone. The name itself Deadly Divas was the brainchild of Denise Swanson. I figured it would be more advantageous and more fun to do events together rather than solo. So the Divas - Letha Albright, Sherri L. Board, Denise Swanson and I -meshed over countless emails, discussing what we wanted to do in the year ahead: signing tours, a newsletter, a web site. All the planning finally came to fruition with our Deadly Divas Texas Tour 2000 in July. So that I wouldn’t forget the highlights - and lowlights - of this momentous 10 day trip, I kept a diary. Below are excerpts from it. Day 1 - Thursday, July 13 - 12:40 pm - St. Louis, MO. On the plane awaiting take-off from Lambert Field, my mind is swimming. Ten days on the Deadly Divas Texas Tour lay ahead, and I’m more anxious than I was promoting my own book. This time, there are four of us involved, and I feel responsible. This was my idea. Sherri, Letha and Denise hooked up with me because they shared my vision. They trust me, and that’s why I’m most nervous. I want this to succeed so they’ll know they made the right decision. Dallas, TX. Barnes & Noble Bookstore, Prestonwood - About 4:00 pm Denise, her mother Marie and I meet at the Hertz rental counter at DFW International and drive into North Dallas to the B&N bookstore where we’ll be signing tonight. As we walk toward the store from the parking lot, we spot a large front window display with all our books and a poster advertising the event. Wow! Denise and I both grin. There’s another display set up inside. Letha’s book Tulsa Time sits in stacks with the others. We were worried it might not be shipped in time. Even Letha hasn’t seen a copy yet. Later, at The Harvey Hotel - We check in for the ClueFest Mystery Convention, then disperse to our respective rooms, wanting time to relax and cool down (it’s over 100 degrees outside!). The Director of the Divas - that's me - must find the box I had FedExed ahead of time containing Diva giveaway items, our specially made tee-shirts, items for the Divas basket for the ClueFest auction, and extra copies of GONE. After a near panic moment, the box is found to my great relief. Barnes & Noble, the Inaugural Divas Event - Denise, Marie, Letha and I meet up in the hotel lobby, then head over to the bookstore. Sherri’s already there. I haven’t seen her in a year, and she looks wonderful. Suddenly it hits me: this is the first time the four of us have stood in the same room, and I know with all my heart that these are the right women. The perfect Divas. By 7:30, about 20 people have arrived for the event and, during the course of our discussion on "Why Nice Women Write About Murder," other customers stop to stand and listen. We have a rousing conversation about our love of crime fiction, our characters and settings. Lots of laughter, too. We answer audience questions until nine o’clock when we tie it up and start signing books. Christine Paul, the CRC, had ordered about 30 to 40 copies of each title, and handfuls disappear as people grab all four. We don’t get out of the store until nearly 11 p.m., closing time. In the car, we talk about how it went, what we might have done better or differently. We’re satisfied with the evening and so amazed at how the four of us clicked. Denise remarks about how she’d dreamed of her first signing so many times, and tonight it was finally real. Day 2 - Friday, July 14 - ClueFest Mystery Convention - The Divas in the News - Rise and shine! ClueFest starts today, and every Diva is on at least three panels each throughout the weekend. I learn from a friend that an article about the Divas had appeared in the Richardson Daily News, and she gives me a copy. A few ClueFesters also made a Diva spotting in the Dallas Morning News and hand out copies. A reporter has left a message for me to call her about an interview for the Arlington Morning News. Turns out, they want to do a feature on the Divas for their Weekend section, and they’re sending a photographer to the hotel to shoot us. We’re told to wear our boas. Things seem to be rolling, and the Texas Tour has barely started. ClueFest takes off, and the Divas get busy with various panels and signings. In the dealers room, I note that Letha’s Tulsa Time and Denise’s Murder of a Small-Town Honey are selling like hotcakes. I check with Patsy Asher of Remember the Alibi, as we’ll be signing at her store in San Antonio on Monday, and she tells me that the 4 San Antonio Living show will be taping live from her store on Tuesday morning while simultaneously showcasing the Divas in the studio, something I’d worked out beforehand. Patsy’s smiling like the Cheshire cat, obviously pleased about the exposure. Day 3 - Saturday, July 15 - ClueFest - The Divas' first feature - The panels continue to go well with solid crowds. We take a break at three o’clock to meet with the AMN photographer in the lobby. We pose on the piano in the lounge clad in our feather boas. Other authors stop to watch in amusement and we have a great time. Our first feature, although we’ll have to wait until this coming Friday, and travel for five days in between, before we see it in print. Day 4 - Sunday, July 16 - Goodbye, Dallas. Hello, San Antonio - Denise and Marie head to the airport early. Marie has a lunchtime flight, and Denise will see her off. I finish my panel on reviews, then Letha and I return the rental car and meet Denise and her husband. Dave is our Designated Divas’ Driver for the week. We talk about what’s already happened and what’s to come. Denise relates that another author at ClueFest asked who our publicist was. We laugh about that and comment. If they only knew. I remind myself to call Danielle Austin in the morning, the producer on the "Living" show. I rarely sleep at all, much too excited for dreams. Day 5 - Monday, July 16 - The River Walk - The River Walk is beautiful, and I enjoy the leisurely stroll along the water, our lunch at an Italian restaurant, and looking around a few shops. In an antiques store, I find the perfect Divas ring: a sterling silver and malachite spider with red eyes. Remember the Alibi Bookstore, 6:00 p.m. We Remember the Alibi instantly. The words Mystery Bookstore leave no mistaking it, and there’s a sign in the window advertising Author Signing Today! That’s us. Patsy Asher is there to greet us. There’s a table for the four of us with nameplates, even a tablecloth and eight chairs in front. Pretty soon, the eight chairs turn into a dozen and then fifteen as customers arrive for the event. By the time we begin, there are at least two dozen in attendance. We hand out Diva beads and spider rings and customers fill out tickets to win a Deadly Divas tee-shirt. Then we get the show on the road, this time even talking about what song titles best represent our writing life. For Letha, it’s Crazy by Patsy Cline; for Sherri, Over the Rainbow; for Denise, Impossible Dream pre-publication and now Send in the Clowns; and for me Keep Pushin’ by REO Speedwagon, though no one else even knows who they are. We sign books then linger to talk to everyone for a few minutes. Before we leave the store, we share our anxieties about being on TV in the morning. Day 6 - Tuesday, July 17 - KMOL Channel 4 (NBC), San Antonio - I wake up at the crack of dawn. We get our things together, check out of the hotel before we head for the studio. A half hour ahead of schedule, we’re dressed and raring to go - complete with boas and tiaras. We sign in at the studio’s front desk at 9:15 then are taken to a green room to get miked and to go over things with the producer of 4 San Antonio Living. It seems only seconds go by before we’re led onto the set, which resembles a comfy living room with drapes, oil paintings and overstuffed leather furniture. We meet Tanji Patton, the host of "Living" who looks like the actress Tea Leoni. They sit me next to Tanji, with Letha and Sherri on the sofa to my left. Denise gets her own chair across the coffee table. We chat with Tanji briefly before the show goes live at precisely 10 a.m. I watch the monitor and see Patsy Asher with a reporter at Remember the Alibi. They get a shot of the Deadly Divas book display, and next thing I know, the camera is on us. Tanji makes introductions, then asks about our boas, so I fluff my feathers and tell her "It’s a Diva thing!" Our ten minutes of fame pass by like the wind, and it’s over as quickly as it began. Houston, TX - Tuesday Afternoon - Julie Wray Herman, author of Three Dirty Women and the Garden of Death gives refuge to the Divas, offering Letha, me, Denise and Dave two nights’ accommodations at her spacious home on five acres. We arrive in the late afternoon and don’t have time for much more than a few hugs and hellos before we have to change for our event at Murder by the Book on Bissonet in the city, a perfect place for mystery lovers. It’s like the library in the Wayne Mansion ("Alfred, I’d like a glass of iced tea and an Agatha Christie, please"). Dean James and David Thompson have our "stage" set up and ready to go. A nice crowd begins to appear just after five o’clock - we’re getting spoiled by the great turnout. I quickly spot four ladies from my mother’s former book club - and my godmother! It’s like a reunion. The Divas’ talk goes smoothly, the audience asks great questions about cover art, our trip, and how we got together. We raffle off the tee-shirt, and my godmother Kiki wins it. Day 7 - Wednesday, July 19 - Borders in Stafford - Julie’s set to sign with us at the Border’s Books & Music in Stafford this evening, not too far from her house, and I’m thrilled to have her join the Divas. We get to the store about fifteen minutes early, and Vikk Simmons, the CRC, has only about ten chairs set up. She quickly finds more as 20 to 30 materialize for our little production. As I lead my illustrious panel in our discussion, my eyes wander over the crowd, and I continue to wonder how we’ll keep this up. It’s unbelievable and scary in many ways. Day 8 - Thursday, July 20 - The Road to Austin - Letha leaves the group to fly out to a family reunion in Colorado, and I miss her even before she’s gone. It won’t be the same without her but the show must go on. We leave Julie’s house around 11 am, and arrive at our hotel in Round Rock just outside Austin with enough time to get ready for our event at Adventures in Crime & Space. We averted a possible disaster by bringing copies of Gone, Honey and Angels of Anguish with us from Murder by the Book in Houston. The shipment from Ingram to Crime & Space ended up at a bookstore in Utah. And for the first half, we are the only people in the store. Turns out the local web site for Austin entertainment had the address wrong, and Willie had included the wrong time in the paper. Within an hour though, people materialize and we have an audience when we start to do our Divas thing. As the store is tiny, it's literally standing room only. Our books sell out. Day 10 - Friday, July 21 - Waco, TX. - We get to Waco without a problem, our last stop before Grand Prairie outside Dallas, and then it’s just a two-hour flight back to St. Louis. We check into the Clarion Hotel, and the front desk clerk even mentions her sister convincing her to go to "some book thing" at the local Barnes & Noble tonight. Denise and I smile and tell her that's us. My friends Cae and Billie are driving in from Killeen, and I can’t wait to see them. From the quiet looks of this town with Baylor College out of session, they might be the only ones in the audience. Barnes & Noble, Friday Night - I’ve got a sinking feeling in my stomach, despite the wonderful set-up arranged by Brenda Khozein, the CRC of the bookstore. She put us back in the "events room" at a table with about 20 chairs lined up in front. Around those chairs are smaller tables where patrons sit, talk and sip coffee. Billie and Cae aren’t anywhere in sight. I later find out they’d gotten lost after dinner and barely made it to the store before we finished. About 10 people settle into the rows to listen to us. I spot another few slipping into seats at the little tables that ring the area. Sherri, Denise and I get the discussion rolling, but it seems more labored. We’re all a bit tired, though we manage to get a good rapport going with the audience, including one aspiring author who has lots of questions. We meet some interesting people, including a man from the Sheriff’s Department who’d been one of the first negotiators at the Branch Davidian compound. Some buy books, some don’t. After two hours at Barnes & Noble, we thank Brenda and bid our leave. On the ride back to the hotel, we debate whether this was a disappointment or not, and I remind everyone that a CRC once told me that a successful signing meant selling more than two books. We’ve sold 20. How could that be anything but positive? Day 11 - Saturday, July 22 - Grand Prairie, TX - It’s our last day in Texas. We’ve made it through 10 days of The Deadly Divas Tour, and I’m ready to go home. We’re signing from 2-4 p.m. at the Bookshelf on Pioneer Parkway, and I’m feeling strangely free. It’s nearly done, and we survived the trip without any harsh words, any true disasters or anything but mild disappointment. At the store, we meet Karen Williams, the owner. She points out the feature from the Arlington Morning News on her wall. Denise and I take a look, and our mouths drop open. The photo they used has Denise pretending to strangle me, and I’m making the goofiest face alive. Sherri and Letha laugh in the background. We’ve got on our boas, too. Guess it highlights our sense of humor. Folks just wander in and out from 2-4, so we chat with comers, sign books and figure out when to head to the airport. Karen’s writing group shows up not long before we leave, and they’re full of questions about the business. We encourage them to follow their dreams, but let them know it’s a tough row to hoe and the work doesn’t stop once you’ve got a book in print. In fact, that’s merely the beginning. This Deadly Divas tour has reinforced what I already knew. As a fledgling author, you must get out and promote your book. When you’re real to readers and not just an unfamiliar name on a cover, they respond to you as a person and are more willing to invest in your book. The bottom line is that promotion works. It’s tough and time-consuming to be sure, and lots more fun when done with friends. As I fly home that evening, I realize now I’ve got to finish up the schedule for The Deadly Divas California Tour in October. It never ends, but I’m proud of myself, and of Letha, Sherri and Denise for what we’ve accomplished. Viva las Divas! |
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