Had a delightful lunch and experience today with a group of ladies who, gulp!, like my books. A few days ago, I got an email from Joyce M. who wrote that she belonged to a group of ladies who became friends at a now-vanished Curves exercise studio and have stayed together for years. She said they all love my books and where could they get them in print? I replied, and we began a little conversation. Her group meets for lunch, so I asked if they’d consider the Old Neighborhood Grill, because it is so prominent in one series. There are, she replied, too many of them—18! But it turns out they were meeting today at another restaurant, and I sort of invited myself. Along with neighbor Mary Dulle—we’d been planning to go to lunch anyway, and I thought this sounded like fun.

Boy, was it ever. This was a warm, welcoming group of women, mostly a bit younger than me but not a lot, who shared laughter and stories and put us interlopers quickly at ease. Joyce is an outgoing, happy person who sort of ramrods things, I suspect, and she led the ladies closest to us to tell what they did before retirement and other things about themselves. The lady to my left was 86 and had gone five miles on some exercise equipment before lunch. Believe me, I was impressed. I’m so sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk to the ladies at the far end of the table, though one or two did come up to chat.

I collected some names for my mailing list, passed out bookmarks, and talked a bit about what’s ahead for the characters in my three series.

It can be a bit challenging to walk into a group cold, but these ladies reassured me in two seconds flat, and I felt right at home. Wish I’d thought to take a picture or two.