Getting this photo cost me a sum of money equivalent to my royalties on 1,200 book sales. BUT IT WAS WORTH IT.
As my author bio states, I live in England now, but I was born in the US. However, I hadn’t returned to my home state of Virginia for about twenty years. In October, I was swamped by an overwhelming wave of homesickness which DEMANDED that I take my husband and daughter to see my old childhood haunts.
The fact that this happened to be a couple of weeks after the publication date of FANG GIRL was, of course, entirely coincidental.
FANG GIRL on the Teen Favorites table at Barnes & Noble, Tysons Corner, VA
So we spent three and a bit weeks touring Virginia, Washington D.C. and North Carolina, visiting old friends and family. My husband had never been to the States before, so naturally we also had to do a bit of sight-seeing.
One of the many Barnes & Noble stores containing FANG GIRL
This is totally a world-famous tourist destination of outstanding natural beauty and great scientific interest. Honest.
FANG GIRL and me together in Barnes & Noble
I must admit that I, uh, have no idea exactly which bookstores most of these photos were taken in. We may have visited rather a lot.
Fun fact: If you turn up at a Barnes and Noble, take all the copies of a book off the shelf, take them to Customer Services, and claim to be the author, they will let you sign them. Without asking for any form of ID.
Signing copies of FANG GIRL in Barnes & Noble, Reston, VA
Next time, I’m going to claim to be Stephanie Meyer. Or possibly Stephen King.
So, if you happen to live near Reston, Tysons Corner, Washington DC, Charlottesville, Roanoake, Chapel Hill, Durham, or Raleigh, check out your local Barnes and Noble. You might be able to find one of these:
FANG GIRL proudly sporting an “Autographed by the author” sticker at Barnes & Noble
And if you do, take a photo of it and send it to me by email, Tweet, or Facebook. First one I receive wins a prize!
(Speaking of Facebook, did you know I’ve got a shiny new author page? Check it out for more photos from my FANG GIRL tour!)
