The Journey is the Story

My friend Elizabeth Boyle was in town on Monday and I got to the Powell’s event late enough that she was already speaking. I was quiet and slipped into a seat but she saw me, and exclaimed into the microphone, “Aunt Mary’s here!” then continued with her story of the disaster preceding the submission of her first book, and the hero that stepped forth to make a dream come true for his wife. I’ve heard this story but loved the reminder and revisit to an old favorite.

Later she explained to the audience that we met at a reader’s luncheon in 2003 and my 25 yr-old niece was with me, and kept calling me “Aunt Mary” even while I kept reminding her that I’m Terri Patrick in the world of romance books and authors. Well, “Lizbo” and I have had numerous encounters over these years and she is still my go-to author for rereads, and my must read, even though she’s a historical author and I’m a “new age” girl.

The above is her 20th novel and she never planned her interconnected books to become a series, but the characters she would encounter always were more interesting than she intended and needed their own stories. Also, the date of that first novel disaster and dramatic conclusion was April 1st. And here she was, on April 1st, celebrating the release of her 20th novel.

A few times, over the past ten years, Elizabeth would ask me, “When will I be attending the book signing for your novel?” And I’d just shrug because she was the catalyst for one of my sideline interests that is now called, Author Marketing 101. com. Elizabeth was one of the first authors who impressed me as being a delightful person with an engaging story beyond her books, that made me so fascinated with authors that I decided I was going to find a way to remain in this Romancelandia industry even if I never got a novel of my own published. Of course I also discovered that few authors, as individuals, are as interesting as Elizabeth Boyle.

I’m a really good business woman and the publishing industry is the most convoluted business I’ve ever encountered. The turbulence created by technology these past five years has been huge. And Ed has always been flying at Mach-2-with-his-hair-on-fire at the cutting edge of technology so I understand more about that innovation than many. And, as a result, I can shut it all off really well. When my sister commented on a recent news event I admitted I had no clue what she was talking about, but I did know that Amazon had bought Goodreads.

When Elizabeth had signed her books of the Powell’s stock of her 20th novel, and many of her her backlist books, I gave her, and her son, a ride in my car to the MaxTrain station a few blocks away.

None of us were sure where we were going.

My low slung sport car was a surprise as they are both used to minivans and that ass-on-the-pavement sensation can be a challenge if you have lower back issues. But as I stated, to the teenage Mr. Boyle who had to pretzel himself into the back seat, when you’re with “Aunt Mary” even a few blocks needs to be an adventure.