Release Week Begins!

This week marks the release of Jillian Cantor's novel, The September Sisters, and my novel, A Taste of Magic. So...we're basically walking on air. Okay, huge, huge, huge understatement!

Actually, for me, my book is already in the hands of many readers. Amazon and Barnes & Noble have had the book in stock for a little over a week. I've been getting emails from folks saying they HAVE my book. What a surreal feeling that is!

All week long, Jillian and I will be answering questions from the rest of The Novel Girls, today is my turn to ask. My question is: How did you celebrate when you first sold your novel, and how are you celebrating the release? Anything fun planned?

Jillian: Any celebration that I have usually revolves around food, and book sale/release celebrations are not any different for me! The day my book sold I went out to dinner to celebrate with my husband and two kids. It was an especially nice dinner out because my younger son was still a newborn, and we hadn't been out to eat yet since he was born. Lucky for us, he slept through dinner, and me, my husband, and my older son got to enjoy the meal. We went to a new place, an authentic New York deli that had just opened, a rarity in the southwest, and something that my husband and I miss (having grown up back east). Plus, we thought it fitting to be in a "New York" restaurant to celebrate the good news coming out of New York earlier in the day!

I'm not sure what I'm going to do on the day of my launch yet, but I know we'll probably go out to dinner some night this week to celebrate. Two weeks ago, though, I had a little pre-launch lunch with two other author friends of mine whose books also came out in February - Laura Fitzgerald, author of Veil of Roses and the newly released One True Theory of Love, and Morgana Gallaway, author of the Nightingale. We met at a crepe cafe, sat out on the patio in the gorgeous Februrary Arizona sun, drank coffee, discussed our launches, and of course, savored our delicious crepes. So yeah, celebration, good food, book-talk. Count me in!

Tracy: Okay, answering your own question is a little weird, but here we go...

After my book sold, I had several celebrations...all of them awesome. Some very good friends took me and my husband out to a really nice Italian restaurant for dinner the weekend after I first received the news. Then, the next week, another awesome friend sent me a bottle of very (very) nice champagne. Yum! We shared the champagne with my parents in another celebration. I also celebrated wtih my local writing group in a variety of small ways--coffee out, book talk, and a lot of fun.

For my launch celebration, there will be (again) several different things going on. My aunt is having a launch brunch for me in March, which I'm really excited about. Another friend is having a party for me, and of course, me and my husband will likely sneak out this week while the kids are at school for a celebratory lunch. Sometime this week, I'm heading over to a couple of the local bookstores to "visit" my book with some friends. LOL! I can't wait to see it on a shelf.

Don't forget! Be sure to comment on any of the posts this week (or all) for a chance to win autographed copies of The September Sisters by Jillian Cantor and A Taste of Magic by Me (um, Tracy Madison) :)

Also, stop by my blog today (http://www.tracymadison.com/) and join in my celebration there! Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense author (and a very close friend of mine) Lisa Mondello has answered some questions, and is also giving signed copies of her book away.

I'll be around all week--celebrating!