Well, after all my announcements and commotion, here, at last, is the report on my reading and signing at Annie’s Bookstop in Worcester.  I HAD A BALL! What a wonderful experience.  So, I will commemorate it in words and pictures for you.

Ah, a long shot of Annie’s as viewed by the author and her entourage – aka her husband.  Hey, he’s one guy but he’s worth a battalion.  We all know that about Yang!

Wait, here’s the heart-stopping moment where I see myself and my work celebrated in an honest-to-goodness advertisement!  I’m a star!  For the day.  Sort of.  That’s good enough for me!

One of my loyal fans, Barbara Werblin greets me with gifts celebrating my great victory in actually getting the darned thing published!    We’re buddies from the “Y,” so she’s seen me in my sweats and really knows me!  Barb’s a great friend who has given me tons of encouragement – and she loves the book, too!  As the Mom of a wonderful poet, she understands the writer’s burden.  Sigh!

You can see my pal and colleague MaryLynn just behind me in the shot above. In these two pictures, you can see my friend and former student, Erin Bassler, having a good time while she reports on the event for The New Worcester Spy. (Read the article here!) Ultimately, we had about 12 or 13 people attend, all told.  I had loads of support from my friends:  students, colleagues, folks I know who enjoyed Bait and Switch and like seeing me be a wise guy.  So take a gander at some of the shots from the reading, question answering, and signing.  Also, note how I got myself all gussied up in my smart-talking, forties gal, film noir look:  white blouse, black skirt, black and white spectator pumps, technicolor red lipstick.  Agent Carter, eat out your heart!

Someone said something shocking!  How about those gorgeous flowers that Barbara got me for the occasion?  And chocolate.  She got me chocolate, too.  A brilliant woman!

Here are some nice shots of other folks coming up with questions, pondering the noir-style mysteries engendered by James Crawford leaving Jessica Minton that mysterious package in Bait and Switch.

Erin Fragola follows along intently while I ham up my reading in the background.

Everyone gets intense  with Pam McKay concentrating to express her thoughts on one of the many exciting and intriguing questions people posed to me on the characters, plot, historical background, cinematic style of the novel, and the true identity of Dusty. Both Erin Bassler and I look perplexed.  Must have been a humdinger of a query!  Something to do with Nazis?

While I’m signing books for my loyal fans, Pam and her friend Gaylene are perusing Bait and Switch to throw more thought-provoking questions my way.

Ah, the end of an exhilarating day!  Here the author poses with her masterpiece.  I could use a nice cuppa about now.Bait and Switch is the first in the series of Jessica Minton’s adventures in the 1940s.  I’m not telling who else will be along for the ride in subsequent novels.  You’ll have to buy the books to find out!

I’m lucky to have so many friends to support me and to enjoy what I write.  My only regret is that I didn’t get to  include pictures of two people who made this wonderful day possible, but I do extend my heartfelt thanks.  Patty at Annie’s and my husband, who always believes in me – and is lots of fun to be with – yes, I know I dangled a preposition.  So there!

Dusty says, “Buy Bait and Switch!  Don’t miss my catly charm!”