A BIG thanks to all of our friends from Art4Aid.org in Carrboro for hosting the first signing event for Naked and Hungry. It was a great turnout…with both old and new friends. The event was one that my main character. H.T., would have simply loved, especially the delicious barbecue and cornbread. Not to mention the prevalence of flip-flops! Special thanks to childhood friend Callie Hammond who came all the way from Sanford and Kevin and Dani who drove up from Charlotte. And an extra special thanks to all those who bought my book and WERE NOT blood relatives. Wow! And as my blood relatives know, I owe them far more than I could ever pay!
In spite of the forecast, the weather held out, and we were able to chat outdoors under a beautiful canopy of trees. There I read two short excerpts, including the first scene between H.T. and his future love interest Jessica Beane, and the darkly humorous episode in which H.T. overhears the bad guys plot his death. That scene, appropriately enough, was also at a barbecue.
“You know you could go to jail for threatening us with a deadly weapon,” says one of the villains, when H.T. pulls out his nail gun to defend himself. “I didn’t threaten anyone,” says H.T. “But if you don’t hand me my flip-flops, I’m going to sink a few nails in Earl’s Cadillac and that would only be a misdemeanor.”
The publisher was kind enough to provide a limited supply of promotional copies for sale in advance of the November release. So please stay tuned to our events page for more signings in the near future. And if you have a group of friends who might be interested in hearing me read from the book this summer, be sure and email me. We’ll talk about the book, our shared love for North Carolina, crepes and more!
Ashley Memory 