Booksigning Week!

Yes, this Saturday! My first event of the year, and I can't wait! This is the tenth year Ashcombe Farm & Greenhouses has hosted the signing, and I think the sixth or seventh time I've been there (missed last year when I got sick, and I'm still bummed about that). This event is always so much fun, set up in the greenhouse, with the greenhouse cats wandering around, or, in one case two years ago, setting up camp on one of the signing tables. The first year I was there, it snowed the day of the signing. The forecast looks better right now for this year, no snow or ice, but still not warm enough to be outside doing anything, which means it's the perfect day to come out and wander the greenhouses, find a few new-to-you authors and maybe something green to take home to pretty up the place, too, before you celebrate Valentine's Day however you like.

I'm working on my signing prep list, doing the last-minute check to be sure I haven't missed anything I'll need on Saturday, plus all the usual weekend chores, and trying to work on getting the outside cat inside. (It isn't going great yet: the inside cat still hates her, and because of the cold last night, I tried to get her to spend the night inside, safely in my book room with the door so inside kitty couldn't get to her, but she didn't like being shut up in there by herself and when hubby got up to open the door, she hurried out and went to the front door to go outside into the sub-zero windchills. We'll keep trying.) Before I get back to all that fun stuff, I have a snippet for you this week from Light the Way Home.

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            Lucie had been on Mac’s Light Island for almost three weeks, but the view from the back door of her temporary home still took her breath away. Right now, she realized she’d been standing there staring, slack-jawed, at the sunlight glinting off the grey-blue ocean waves for a good five minutes. Shaking her head, she pulled the door shut and stepped down onto the sidewalk, feeling in her purse for her car keys.

            She closed her fingers on the fob as a giggle reached her ears. She turned to the white picket fence that bordered the property next door as a big multi-colored ball sailed over it, toward her. “Oh!” She caught it before it hit her in the face, then started across the grass, balancing the ball on her hand.

            Another giggle sounded as she neared the fence, so she adjusted her direction a tiny bit and came to a stop looking directly down onto a tousled blond head.

            “I think you lost something,” she said.

            The little boy’s face tipped up quickly, his blue eyes wide with surprise–as if he couldn’t believe she’d found him already.

            Lucie grinned and held the ball higher.

            He smiled as he got to his feet, brushing off his jeans-clad knees.

            From seeing him playing outside several times already, she’d guessed he might be four, but now at close range, she scaled that back to three.

            “Hi, I’m Hayden,” he said, holding out his right hand.

            It was her turn to be surprised. She shook his hand, bemused. “Hi, Hayden, I’m Lucie.” Not too many three-year-olds had such good manners. Aside from the ball toss at her face, that is. “Nice to meet you.”

            He glanced up at his ball. “Me an’ my dad are your neighbors.”

            “I see that.” She noted he hadn’t mentioned his mom. “Who were you playing with?” She gave the ball a little bounce.

            “Maybe you wanna play with me.” Guileless blue eyes locked on her face.

            Ah. She squelched the pang in her chest. “I wish I could, but I’m on my way to town. Maybe we can play another time?” she added when his grin vanished.

            “Like this afternoon?”

            “Hayden!”

            The deep voice got her attention–and the boy’s–just before a tall, sandy-haired man rounded the back corner of the next-door house.

            Lucie’s mouth went dry. Wowza!

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If you're close enough to get to Mechanicsburg, PA on Saturday, I really do hope you'll come out to see us at the signing. Ashcombe's site has author bios, and I just posted the (current) seating chart on my Facebook page, too. A few hours in a cozy greenhouse is a great way to spend a February afternoon. Hope to see you all there!

Until next week, happy reading!