October has been a great month for Gift of the Shaper and, by proxy, me! I was invited to do a reading and book signing at Clovis-Carter library and I was floored at the turnout. I was lucky enough to have been the featured author in their book club for October so there were some amazing questions.

Joining me was someone who won’t show up in the pictures because she prefers to be behind the camera instead: Shel Rogers of shelrogers.com, a documentary photographer in Clovis, New Mexico. (Note: she did all the black and white photos, so if you like what you see, check out her site for more!).

Right when I got in I had a mini-freakout because I saw my picture all over the place.

When Sara, one of the wonderful people behind the scenes, invited me to come read, I jumped at the chance. One of the most surreal moments in my life was when I started taking questions and one guy, Steven, started asking me about specific passages and characters. It was so strange to me to have my words read back to me and it took me a few minutes to really process what was going on.

They also gave me the option of doing a “fireside chat,” which I immediately agreed to because who wouldn’t? My only regret was that it was a real, actual fire and that it was SO HOT. But it was worth all the sweat, because I know how to do laundry.

And no book reading would be complete without a group photo!

I was so happy to have been a part of this, and it was a moment that made all my hard work and writing more than worth it. Thanks again to Sara and Margaret at Clovis-Carter library for making this possible!

-D.L.