View from a Newbie

As I prepared for my first book fair all I could think of was, I'd rather stay home, chill out in my backyard and eat Bon Bons. According to those in my Inner Circle, that was a no go. Here I have this book that I struggled to get published and I wanted to play Susie Homemaker? So I got off my fat ass, prepared for it, complete with books, press kits, promotional items and guess what? I had the absolute time of my life!

The atmosphere was hypnotizing, there was much love from everyone I ran into, from Omar Tyree to Relentless Aaron. My entourage included my son who is putting together a cookbook, he's only 14 so its exciting to see him focused on something other than XBox 360! And my public relations diva, Ms. Rosa Metz. I cannot say enough about her, she knows how to talk to people, not AT them.

Oh, and the food..."make you wanna slap yo mama"!! Fried chicken, ribs, yams, jerk chicken. I ventured that way but didn't succumb to the temptation. My son informed me that the food was definitely good, not as great as his Cracker Burgers, its not what you think, but it faired pretty well.

There was every bit of African American literature you could imagine; poetry, anthologies, non-fiction, ficiton, "street lit", booty call lit, and something of my own I like to call "realist fiction". The weather was great, except for the gust of wind every now and then but otherwise it was a beautiful event.