Kensington CozyClub Mini-Con East 2022 with Mechanicsburg Mystery Bookshop
Back Row (left to right): Christin Brecher, Sherry Harris, Julia Henry, Misty Simon, Peggy Ehrhart, Darci Hannah
Front Row (left to right): Darcie Wilde, Maya Corrigan, Tina Kashian, Libby Klein, Lynn Cahoon
Not pictured: Author Alex Erickson had to cancel at last minute due to a family emergency and our prayers are with him and his family during this time.
Wow! What a day it was for our shop on October 8th. It was an amazing time with eleven fabulous authors. Readers formed a line at the door, waiting for them to open at 11 am, and boy did they come. What is that old saying? Build it and they will come. We had each of the authors' books available for purchasing along one side of the a local church's gym area. Books were flying out the door with bags over-filled and pens running out of ink from all that signing. (something we like to see :)
It is a common fact that tea and cozy mysteries go hand-in-hand, so we took it upon ourselves to make everyone feel welcomed at our very own "tea party." Tables were set up with paper tea cups, stuffed with a tea bag, with all of the decorations centered around small paper teapots and sprinkled scrabble letters. Everyone enjoyed our decorations, and the teapots and cups were a real smash!
We were also delighted to have Peschel Press come up from the sweetest place on earth, Hershey, to come with their books and handmade bags.
Bill Peschel was our announcer for the event as his wife, Teresa Peschel, was at their table to answer any and all questions in regards to their novels. (If you have any questions on Agatha Christie, they are the duo to ask!) Their event neighbors, Booksmarksical, brought a wonderful array of candles who's scents are themed after mystery books; such as Premeditated Pumpkin Spice and Kiss of Death. The owner, Amy O'Connor, had an assortment of soy candles, wax melts and candle coasters at her booth, pictured below.
The books were stacked in the kitchen; a perfect place to keep cozy mysteries since most of them contain recipes in the back! A big shout out goes to our volunteers who did a wonderful job lining them up alphabetically by the authors' last names and in series order. (That takes a while if you haven't done that before)
Those shelves did not stay full that long. It was Christmas morning for our readers and there were plenty of big smiles floating around that gym.
Books could be purchased before, during breaks, and after the author speed dating. Never done that before? Author speed dating is just what it sounds like. No, you are not actually dating the author, but the author moves on to the next table after a predetermined amount of time is up. In our case, each author had five minutes with the people at their table until the horn was honked and they played musical chairs to the next round-up of readers.
Pictured to the right was a representative of Kensington Publishing, Larissa, handing the microphone off to Bill Peschel. Sitting in-front of Bill is another author, Mike Silvestri, who was our Ringmaster for the speed dating sessions. Between the three of them, the hosting went rather smoothly. Oh, and if you can spot the orange cat sitting on the table, we could not have a cozy mystery event without a cat!
The day went by so fast with our authors and readers enjoying the author speed dating! Check out the images below. (Due to privacy reasons, some faces have been blurred out)
Author Lynn Cahoon having a discussion at Table 3.
Author Darcie Wilde chatting up a table for five minutes before it was time to change seats.
Author Misty Simon engrossed in a conversation with at her table.
Author Sherry Harris enjoying a talk with Table 7.
The snack table was a huge success with only minimal remnants at the end of the day. Raffle baskets were handed out, trivia was played and we didn't lose a single balloon!
We would like to thank all of our fellow local businesses that helped to support our event through their generosity. They are:
- Rosemary Tea House located in Mechanicsburg
- Castlerigg Wine Shop located in Carlisle
- Brittle Bark located in Mechanicsburg
- Joys of Life Scrapbooking in Mechanicsburg
- Whimsical Poppy in Boiling Springs
Don't forget to check them out for Small Business Saturday on Nov. 26th, and every other day of the year! Thank-you again to all of the authors, participates, volunteers, and staff that put together this wonderfully cozy event. It was a lot of hard work that was well worth it!
And a special thanks to Barb Fellencer for taking the pictures from the day's event.
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