Behind the Scenes at a Book Reading.

When I first entered the Community Room at the Peter White Library in Marquette, MI and saw the huge stage I was to speak from, I felt as small as this picture makes me look.

Four steps up to the stage,
podium, microphone,

and cameras running

(it was being live-streamed!)

I needed a drink.

Voice like a frog.

And then....

I started to get the hang of it.

After which mingling and signing books was easy

             One-on-one with an old friend is the best.

             See the sound guy in the background?

             His name is Marty and he was amazing.

             He put me at ease with his calm demeanor. 

My sister who made it all happen

And

Then....

                the 

                        AFTER

                

                                    PARTY!!!

One thing I would recommend to authors if you take questions after a reading in a large room like this, is repeat the question for the steaming audience. Otherwise there's dead space (as I discovered) and anyone listening in would feel left out.

Finally, I highly recommend an After Party!! 🥳It's fun to kick back and such a relief (for everyone involved) when the main event is over.

I'm very thankful for you and for your comments and for just hanging in there.

Happy Holidays!

 

Making Friedcakes

This time of year, our thoughts go back to making friedcakes on the opening day of pheasant season. Back when pheasants were plentiful, hunters in cameoflage jackets and canvas vests lined with pockets to store their bullets, traipsed in and out the back door to sign in on dad’s clipboard. After the hunt, they’d stop back to report in, show off their game, if they'd been lucky, and get a friedcake, warm from the fryer and glazed with frosting. 

Betty Crocker called them cake donuts but Mother called them friedcakes, so friedcakes they were. 

Last year was the first in many that we decided to bring Grandma's old Presto deep fryer up from the basement and continue the tradition. I found Mother's recipe with her penciled-in notes still legible. We were rusty and had a few laughs, but we'll try again this year because it's fun and they are delicious.

If you want the recipe, send me a message and I'd be happy to share it. 

Writing this, I can't help but feel a twinge of nostalgia. What beautiful birds those ringnecks were. Sometimes we hear their truncated chortle, the two-note song, but seldom see them anymore.