Launch Party

I’d been dutifully attending events at Books of Wonder for nearly a decade, and my dream had always been to have a book launch there.  When I arrived there two hours before launch, there was a little stand outside the bookstore declaring “Event Today” with my name in an orange circle.  My name!  In a circle, like a real author!  It nearly made me break down in tears then and there.

But that was nothing to when I walked into the bookstore, and saw an enormous display of my book in the foremost bookshelf.  A thing I wrote, with my name on it, was displayed on the same shelves where I’d giddily bought the books of so many beloved authors.

This was the first time I’d actually seen my book as a book.  And I just wanted to clutch it to my chest and pet it and cry into it, because this was my book!  There was now a book out in the world that I had written, and that really did bring me to tears.

My assistants Caitlin and Angelica (a.k.a. “party coordinators,” “social media people,” or “bridesmaids” depending on who you ask) took on the minutiae of positioning cameras and laying out merch, while I signed a big stack of preorders.  I was ushered into the author/bookseller area of Books of Wonder, the room behind a curtain I had dreamed of being invited to for so many years.  Objectively, it wasn’t glamorous, just an office – but I felt like I’d just become the biggest VIP in the world.

I had a few “opening acts” to cue up my grand entrance during the event.  When I heard my cue, I entered the event space…  As long as I live, I will never forget that moment.  My favorite bookstore, packed to the brim with people cheering and applauding for me.  For a minute, as the applause continued, I let my eyes rove through the crowd.  There were people there from so many walks of life, from childhood best friends to old coworkers to people I had fanboyed over the years: assorted authors and actors and composers and theatre producers.

And, of course, I was seeing my huge Harry Potter family arrayed before me: The Group That Shall Not Be Named.  In a bit of poetry not lost on me in the least, I had met TGTSNBN at this very bookstore, ten years ago this December.  Over the years, they had become my family.  After a decade of shenanigans, of ups and downs, to see half a hundred of them there to support me… I’ll have to defer to Jo’s words here: “He somehow could not find words to tell them what it meant to him, to see them all ranged there, on his side.” (OP870)

Honestly, that’s the last part of the launch party I properly remember: the rest passed in a blur.  I do recall the interminable signing line, which I just could not get through quickly – I missed the Signing Line Boot Camp where you learn to simultaneously write lengthy emotional messages, carry on a conversation, get photos, and catch up with people you haven’t seen since high school.  Next thing I knew, I had no feeling left in my hand as the Books of Wonder staff was vacuuming around us, almost an hour after their official closing time.

When I woke up the next day, it seemed utterly bizarre to resume normal life: how was I supposed to go to work or see a movie when I had just had the best night of my life, becoming a published author at a book launch party with eighty people?  It felt like the credits should be rolling on my happily ever after.  I may not have the emotional range of a teaspoon, but I still felt I could explode from all the feelings.

Folks say to focus on the next one – next book event, next book, next goal.  After all, this wasn’t the mainstage at the Javits Center, I’ve not received a check for seven figures for the movie option, and I still have a day job.  But for one glorious night, all my favorite people gathered in my favorite place to celebrate me achieving my biggest dream: “If only there had been a dementor around…. I felt I could have produced the world’s best Patronus.” (PA313)