The Ultimate Launch Party

Every author dreams of launch day. For some it comes quietly. The box of books arrives on the doorstep, and the author sits down to hold a book, smell it, feel it. Yes, it's real. Yes, my name's on the cover. And that night you sleep with it under your pillow.

Others are more expressive. They jump up and down for joy, scream and shout. Some share their joy by calling friends and family. Everyone celebrates together. Still others plan a booksigning or a multi-author event.

But in the freezing northern town of Cold Lake, Alberta, one author celebrated her launch with the whole town's support. Not only did the local newspaper, The Cold Lake Sun, do a feature article, but a nearby radio station, Kool 101.3 fm, did 30 spot ads and a live interview beforehand. The radio station came out to serve as dj for the party and also covered the launch. Bean Trees, the local coffeehouse opened their doors for the event, and let an artist paint their walls with art from the book. Six-foot high pictures of the main character and the book's graveyard setting adorned two full walls.

Those Canadians really know how to party. So does the author. She had the all-girl band, Shenanigans, perform. She's pictured above singing along with the band. A singer/songwriter herself, she's multi-talented, and she even performed a song about one of her book characters.

The local bookstore sold out of books before the event, then sold their second order at the event and was still taking orders after the author sold out the boxes of author copies she'd brought!

And who was the lucky author? Judith Graves, YA paranormal author of Under My Skin, published by Leap Books.

Want to know what all the buzz is about? Check out her fabulous book trailer for details about the novel that has a whole town buzzing...