Wings of CHOCOLATE
Hi everyone!
Oh, I should blog about many things, but let’s start with a big huge enormous thank-you to Newtonville Books for the thrilling book launch party they hosted for me — so much fun! Oh my goodness, I wish I could have a book party EVERY DAY!
All these absolutely wonderful people came — thank you to all of you, too! And wow, the new home of Newtonville Books is SO cool . . . check out the front desk!:
It is MADE OF BOOKS! Isn’t that awesome? You should visit the store if you’re in the Newton area, and buy a book or seven while you’re there! 🙂 (I believe they have a few signed copies of a certain dragon book at the moment . . .) 😉 And they’re also the nicest people — super-supportive of authors, friendly and welcoming and wise.
Plus they have this excellent grassy area outside and don’t object when crazy authors show up for their events with a big flapping dragon to stick in it. 🙂
Which brings me to my next thank-you, to my parents, who are so so awesome, and who may possibly have gone a little bit overboard on the dragon props. (Yay dragon props!)
Starting with this magnificent dragon kite spinner thing, which Mom spotted somewhere and decided I MUST HAVE (it is not outside the realm of possibility that there’s someone standing in a yard in NJ scratching their head in bewilderment and wondering if they dreamed a New Zealander commandeering their dragon). Isn’t it fabulous and eye-catching? Doesn’t it compel you to come inside and listen to an author yammering, oooo?
And then there was THIS!:
It’s DRAGON EGGS! In a dragon nest. OF COURSE. 🙂 Because the whole prophecy begins with the eggs of five dragonets who are destined to stop the dragon war. The eggs are stolen from their original homes and the young dragons hatch together in an underground cave instead of in the tribes where they were supposed to be. It’s VERY significant and relevant, I promise.
So my mom made me GLORIOUS DRAGON EGGS — aren’t they cool? And mysterious?
Don’t they make you want to buy a book? 🙂 (Say yes!)
And why yes, of course that is an adorable dragon vase right next to it…
also courtesy of my lovely mom. 🙂
Also there were magnets! Also there was CHOCOLATE! I know, now you really wish you could have come, right? 😉
Mainly because I was quite nervous, and so it seemed entirely logical to spend the night before the event making dragon chocolates instead of figuring out what I was going to say (or, you know, sleeping). Right? That way no matter how silly I sounded, people would be leaving with chocolate, and therefore, ipso facto, with joy. LOGIC. 🙂
So I got a dragon mold (which turned out to be a bit bigger than I expected!):
And I melted some chocolate…or tried to…and then poured and froze and popped and voila!
Yes, we did indeed even go bonkers and make some where the dragon was white chocolate and the rest was dark chocolate. Elaborate thrilling nonsense! I can’t possibly panic about public speaking while wrestling with precision chocolate dragon pouring! 🙂 (And another big big thank you, to Steve for the great idea, and to Kari for all her amazing help!)
And then we wrapped them, and I was ALL SET! What else could I possibly have left to do? Spinning dragon kite? Check! Glorious multicolored dragon eggs? Check! Adorable dragon vase, check; magnets, check; splendid dragon chocolates, check. Yup, I was all ready for my OH RIGHT THE PART WHERE I HAVE TO TALK.
La la la LOOK OVER THERE CHOCOLATE *bolt for the door*
OK, no, I did actually come up with something to say and something to read, and apparently I was at least very animated about it, since all of my dad’s pictures of my talk look like this:
(By the way, thank you so much, Dad, for taking pictures!)
Anyway, hopefully it was fun for everyone! It was fun for me, mainly because so many people I adore showed up, and because Newtonville Books was so lovely about the whole thing. Thank you all again!
I hope I get to do more events like this, and I’ll certainly let you guys know if I do! (Although I’m not sure I can promise ALL these glorious dragon props every time! Especially if my toddler finds the “balloons”…or the chocolate, for that matter…)
OK, I’m sure the baby is going to demand my presence any second now, since he’s really fallen down on the job of Preventing Me From Accomplishing Things tonight, so I’d better wrap this up. But hopefully I’ll be back again soon! 🙂
Quote of the Day: “Why am I asking you for fashion advice? You wear forks as earrings.” — Aria’s mom on Pretty Little Liars (it’s funny because it’s true)