A Special Thanks To Trudy and Whit Clark
/
Well, it’s been a month now since the official launch of the Walk of Death book promotion. It’s been a fast and furious ride so far! What a special way to kick it off than to have special friends like Trudy and Whit Clark to host an event at their awesome real estate offices, Fridrich and Clark, in the Green Hills area. It proved to be a well received event for many of their realtor colleagues in the middle Tennessee area. Just a great chance to meet some of their friends and start the momentum rolling for the middle Tennessee promotion.
Scroll to the bottom of this page to check out some of the pix as we charted the inaugural ‘book signing’ event (click the thumbnails for larger images). This one goes down in history as the first time I’ve autographed anything for anybody! One thing I’ve already learned. It’s hard for this ol’ bird to consolidate thoughts about 30 years of forensic science into ten minutes. Special thanks to our friend Trudy, who was in charge of making sure I didn’t get too long winded (Whit said I ran over). Karen knew that I might listen to Trudy’s cues quicker than her own!
It was great to have some of our book editors there as well to include our neighbors and dear friends Amy and Steve Dennison. Their love of the written word has proven to be an inspiration as this whole project was kicked off. I mean how lucky can a guy get to have the owner of a big time PR firm, Dennison Tombras, offer to help you with your first manuscript!
Our little rock and rolls buddies, Terri and Mark Gallant, were there as well, and provided fantastic moral support to complement the many hours both of them took to check for spelling, grammar, and plot development. When the whirlwind of the book promotion slows down a bit, I must resume my guitar lessons that Mark is so good at. BTW, if you have an event of any kind, you should give Mark a call. Not only has he become one of my best buds, but he is a fairly new (less than 5 years) United States citizen. I think Terry finally recruited him to officially stay south of the border(Canada) Their beautiful daughters may have had something to do with that! By the way, guess who were the last ones out the door that night, helping to clean the entire place? Yep, you guessed it. That’s true friendship!
Connie King, along with her sidekick/husband David (AKA ‘Dirt’) made the trek from Clarksville to show support for the launch. Connie, an avid reader, was so helpful in critiquing my writing, and to help get this thing off the ground. Dirt, well, what can you say….I’m just glad he was able to get over here in between his TV tapings of Hunting University. Some of you sports enthusiasts may have seen his mug shot on his television show that still airs on cable networks across the U.S.
Dr. Mindy Haws, a prominent Nashville plastic surgeon, precious friend, and literary proofer was there along with her sweet little daughter, Tessa. I so appreciate her willingness to proof, provide moral support, and encouragement throughout this entire publishing process. Of course, we have another strong bond, love for rock and roll music. She can discuss details of every genre of music from Mumford and Sons to Eric Clapton!
Karen’s sister, Debbie Greene, was scheduled to attend our little ‘soire’, but her volunteer work for the Red Cross took her to work during the Oklahoma hurricane. This gal has read the manuscript so many times, she’s probably still nauseated!
My literary attorney, Randy Smith, and his lovely wife, Betty, friends for over 30 years, has become the ‘glue’ to hold this project together. I appreciate his being there at the maiden voyage of this book event. I’m courting Betty to let me be her next guest at her book club function!
Joe and Raquel Thomas, owners of Left Brain Digital, and the muscle behind ‘all things internet’ were there to make sure everything went as expected. In today’s literary world, no book of any kind can succeed without a strong social media presence, and this guy is the ‘real deal’.
And finally, our unofficial PR agents and official log cabin builder for DeKalb County, Smithville (Amy and Clint’s official residence in WOD), Sherry and Arthur Primrose. When you go through a two year construction project and wind up being close friends with your contractor and his wife, what does that tell you? Not many folks would drive over an hour each way to support events like this.
Last, but really first is to recognize Drs. Jayson and Mary Beth Tabor, who were the real hit of the event, by bringing 3 ½ of the sweetest grandchildren on earth to this event. As soon as ‘Poppy’ saw them enter the room, the book signing had to stop til I got my required hugs! Anna Grace, Maddie, and Emerson had the place surrounded in a matter of minutes, and were a true blessing to everyone.
Special thanks must go out to Kelsey, Kristyn, and Heather from our dental office who helped Trudy and Karen tirelessly to make this event successful. There have been so many other friends that have provided much needed encouragement and support throughout this whole ‘birthing’ process. We hope to see as many as can come at our next upcoming local events. During the next 4-6 weeks, we will be having functions at the Hendersonville and Gallatin public libraries, Richland Place retirement center, as well as the Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge. Check our ‘appearances’ box on the website for details to see where we’ve been and where we’re going! It’s all good! Thanks to you guys! Cheers!
mt
