Have a look around, make yourself at home. Is this great, or what? To me, it feels like I’ve moved in to a luxury penthouse. Makes me want to kick back, put on some soft music – a samba, maybe? – pour a glass of cold chardonnay and nestle in. So if you’d like to curl up and join me, I’d be pleased to fill you in on some of the doings since the publication of Shrink Rapt three weeks ago.
What I’d most like to share today is how wonderful it’s felt to have my community celebrate the event with me. My colleagues and patients at Summit Psychological Services have been eagerly snatching up copies of Shrink Rapt (some are even reading it), as have fellow members of my critique group, New Providence Writers. Beyond that, the local reception has felt like a bear hug. Sorry to gush, but it’s been that great.
The first time I strolled into the local post office to mail off some books, the clerk grabbed a copy, waved it around and started calling everybody over to look at it. I felt like Derek Jeter. Later that day, I brought a copy to the Berkeley Heights Public Library, which my husband and I regard as pretty much our second home. I wanted to donate a signed copy for the new fiction stack, something I’ve dreamed of doing for years. They not only accepted the book, but the librarians sort of swooped in, congratulating me, and the next thing I knew I was agreeing to do an Author Program there. That event will take place on Tuesday, October 28th and I will share the microphone with my fellow critique group member, psychiatrist Harish Malhotra, MD, whose wise, gentle and practical self-help book, Metaphors of Healing, is also available on Amazon.
The next day, when I went to work out at Murray Hill Racquet and Fitness Center, which my husband and I regard as pretty much our third home, I mentioned to the fitness director that I’d just published a novel. They were gracious enough to invite me to do a series of book signings there, which will be the first week of November. It will be the first time I show up there wearing regular clothing and makeup. It’s possible no one will recognize me without my towel.
Thank you, my friends and neighbors, for welcoming Shrink Rapt to the community!