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For me, author events are simultaneously inspiring and scary. During the event, I am inspired by the author as they share their writing process and journey to publication. The scary part actually happens to me twice - once right before the event starts and again at the end when I am given an opportunity to get my book signed and take a picture with the author.
The “before the event” part is scary to me because of the whole “don’t meet your hero” thing. What if the author is boring, or worse, isn’t excited to be at the event? What if the person I brought with me to the event doesn’t think the author is as great as I do?
Then there is the whole “meeting the author” part at the end. What begins as excitement to meet the author turns to fear as I wrack my brain for just the right thing to say to him or her to make them understand just how much I enjoy their work. And don’t get me started on the photo with the author. I am going to have that picture forever - it is very stressful!
Fortunately, the author event I attended last week was 99% inspiring and 1% scary. Before I share the author and her book, I need to give a little bit of background information...
Earlier this summer my husband and I decided to go to Kansas City in October for a long weekend to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. I had never been to Kansas City and it had been a long time since my husband had been there. The next few months were spent trying to decide what to do during the three days we would be in town.
I spend time on Instagram and one of my favorite accounts to follow is sharonsaysso, aka Sharon McMahon. She published her first book in September, a nonfiction book titled The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement. I pre ordered her book from Neighborhood Reads months ago and could not wait to read it. Then I saw that she was going on a book tour but none of her stops were close to me. Until….
I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and saw a post from her sharing that she would be in Kansas City. The stars aligned and her event in Kansas City just happened to be on the first night we would be in town. Since it was sponsored by the Kansas City Public Library, it was free and there were tickets available because the event had to be moved to a bigger venue. I snagged up two reservations and strong-armed my husband into attending it with me.
The author event did not disappoint. Sharon McMahon came out and immediately charmed the 500+ people in attendance. Her presentation was just like her writing - a blend of humor and good storytelling. She shared some of the stories from her book about real people who made an impact on our country but, for one reason or another, their names aren’t known by most Americans. The presentation, just like her book, was uplifting and hopeful. It left me feeling inspired.
Now it is time for the scary parts. During her presentation, I kept sneaking looks at my husband to see how he was reacting. Would he find her as inspiring as I did? Was he bored? He isn’t a reader but he does like learning about “real things”. I did catch him smiling and even clapping so that was one scary hurdle that I successfully got over.
Now for the second scary part. It was time for my picture with Sharon McMahon. I handed my phone over to the library employee to take my picture (my husband couldn’t be trusted) and told her I was nervous. She told me she liked my shirt and that I would do fine. I walked up to Sharon McMahon, thanked her for her book, and tried to remember how to smile. She was extremely nice and thanked me for attending the event. I am pleased to report the picture is not horrible (see below)!
If you don’t get the opportunity to see Sharon McMahon in person or you don’t have an Instagram account, you can still get the feelings of inspiration and hopefulness that I did. You just need to read her book.
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