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OK I have the area by my fireplace set up for the videotaping - now I just have to get Bob out of the living room so I can actually do the taping . He claims he'll be leaving shortly to get my celery and sparkling wine for tonight's events. I'll keep practicing in the meantime.

OK the party is about to begin! Come on by and enjoy!

Launch Party

The book launch was a great success! I had a large number of people coming and going, and we lasted for four and a half hours. I had a variety of people winning the prizes and participating in the games.

I'll post the details about the games and activities I did, so you can have a sense of what we were doing.

First up, the food list. Occasionally throughout the party I'd post a photo of a food item and "pass it around". People enjoyed talking about the food items and asking about the recipes. So that was a fun way to get people involved.

Here's the list of things I passed around.

** Devilled Eggs
Here's one of my favorite appetizers ever - devilled eggs! I adore these things. In the 1800s, the adjective "devilled" meant "spicy". Enjoy!
www.bellaonline.com/articles/art10678.asp

** Celery and Hummis
I always enjoy celery and hummis - crispy, crunchy, green, and tasty too
www.bellaonline.com/articles/art11026.asp

** Chicken Satay
I'm a great fan of chicken satay. Delicious flavoring and a tasty peanut sauce too.
www.bellaonline.com/articles/art13769.asp

**Shrimp
Shrimp is good for you! Great protein with a delicious cocktail sauce.
www.bellaonline.com/articles/art11547.asp

**Tuna Tartare
If you enjoy sushi, definitely give a try to this tuna tartare appetizer. It has fresh mango and cucumber in it!
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art179922.asp

**Sashimi
I adore sashimi. Sashimi is in essence sushi without the rice. You get the flavorful raw fish, full of delicious omega 3 oils, and good protein as well.
www.bellaonline.com/articles/art33390.asp


**Stuffed Mushrooms
Mushrooms are very good for you, and this recipe doesn't need any bread.
/www.bellaonline.com/articles/art179940.asp


** Egg Salad Celery Snacks
www.bellaonline.com/articles/art179939.asp

So I would cut and paste one of those articles and images and descriptions occasionally throughout the party.

Here's what a sample posting looked like during the launch party.

OK next up, trivia questions and games. We had a lot of these running during the party. Some were quick who-knows-this kinds of questions. Others were fun discussion topics. Mine tried to apply to murder mysteries - you can make yours up to apply to your book topic of course! The aim is to make them fun and interactive. Something most people could know.

Again by having the list done beforehand, it meant during the actual party I could simply cut-and-paste.

** Here's a game! How many words can you make, four letters or more, using the letters in ASPEN ALLEGATIONS?


** The heroine in Aspen Allegations is named Morgan. What other people can you think of who share this name?


** Jason is the name of the hero in Aspen Allegations. What other famous characters have this name?


** What movies, shows, and novels can you think of that feature scenes in Massachusetts?


** Aspen Allegations is all about nature. How many animals can we name that begin with the letter "A"?

** Do you guys remember Columbo? What did you think of him?

** Is anybody watching Castle? What do you think of the show?


** Brainstorming time! What would be a good name for my sequel to "Aspen Allegations"?


** Who wrote "Murder on the Orient Express"?
(what's your favorite story by her)


** Where was the Spenser for Hire series by Robert B. Parker set?

** OK talking about childhood favorites, how about Quincy! He was always questing to right some wrong.


** Who shot J. R. ?


** What's the last murder mystery novel you read?


** Who is Keyser Söze?


** Did Han shoot first?


** Star Wars or Star Trek?


** Which Bond actor was the best?


* Rotton Tomatoes votes Citizen Kane as the best mystery movie of all time. What do you think?


** Real Life Mystery - Amelia Earhart vanished at sea. Do you think we'll ever find concrete proof of the wreckage?


** Real Life Mystery - just where is Jimmy Hoffa? Is he on a tropical island somewhere?

** Real Life Mystery - on March 18, 1990, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston was robbed of amazing paintings including fantastic works by Rembrandt and Degas. Where do you think they are now?

** Who said “I don’t feel the need the need to wipe everybody out, Tom. Just my enemies. That’s all.”
-- michael corleone, godfather


** What song has the lyrics "She's a Killer Queen, gunpowder, gelatin"
(Queen killer queen)

** What song has the lyrics "Shot through the heart, and you're to blame"
(bon Jovi you give love a bad name)

** What song has the lyrics "bang bang he shot me down, bang bang I hit the ground"
(Nancy Sinatra bang bang)

** What song sings "Hit me with your best shot - fire away!"

** Who said "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"
(Joker batman)

** Where is this statement and response from? "We read five times that you were killed, in five different places." / "As you can see, it was true every single time."
- Casablanca, Berger to Laszlo

** Where is this line from? "Now you listen to me, I'm an advertising man, not a red herring. I've got a job, a secretary, a mother, two ex-wives and several bartenders that depend upon me, and I don't intend to disappoint them all by getting myself "slightly" killed."
- north by northwest


** Where is this line from? "When a man's partner is killed, he's supposed to do something about it. It doesn't make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and you're supposed to do something about it. "
-- maltese falcon / sam spade


** Do you have a dream place you'd like to visit? Somewhere you've always wanted to go?


Here's a graphic of one of the games as it was taking place. There were many more participants after this too.

Next, activities. It's good to get people moving every once in a while so they aren't just staring at the screen the entire time So I incorporated some activities every half hour or so. Here was my list.

** Yoga time! Sit up straight. Think about the crown (top) of your head. Now trace a circle with your head clockwise, making a "halo" over your head with your crown. Do this five times. Then reverse. Did your neck creak?


** Yoga time! Sit up straight. Imagine a delicious orange is floating right in front of your nose. Point your nose at the top of the orange, and then slowly trace your nose around the orange clockwise. Do this five times. Then reverse. Does your neck feel better?


** Yoga time! Sit up straight. Lift your shoulders up, press them forward, pull them down, then press them back. Repeat five times. Then reverse. Better?


** Yoga time! Interlace your fingers. Turn your hands so the back of your hands faces your chest. Press your palms away from you as far as they'll go. Hold for five seconds. Enjoy!


** Yoga time! Stick your right arm straight out in front of you. Swing it left so it's across your chest. Use your left forearm to press your right arm against your chest. Hold for five seconds. Reverse. How do your shoulders feel now?


** Yoga time! Imagine you've just won a marathon. Throw both arms high in the air and smile as widely as you can. Cheer if you want to! Hold for five seconds. Studies show this pose actually boosts your feel-good hormones! Feeling better?


** Yoga time! Stand up and turn around in place. When you're at your computer you should try to stand at least every hour, to keep blood circulating properly. If you want to, give a little dance!



Here's an example of one.

It was a great success, Lisa. And I really enjoyed the party. Just sorry I couldn't stay the whole time.

What is nice is that now I have a good idea how to do one when I get a book wrote. It was very instructive. Plus it was a lot of fun.

I also loaded up some photos relating to Sutton, both to show Sutton's beauty and to have a fun guess-this-plant game. Here's my list that I made beforehand to know what to post occasionally.

** guessplant 1 -
Who can guess what this plant is?
witch hazel

** guessplant 2 -
Who can guess what this plant is?
sassafras

** guessplant 3 -
Who can guess what this plant is?
maple leaf

** guessplant 3 -
Who can guess what this plant is?
juniper

Here's a photo of a trail in Purgatory Chasm. They are lovely and peaceful!

Here's a photo of kayaking on Lake Singletary in the autumn.


Here's an example of one of them -

Sandra -

I'm so glad you found all the information helpful! That was a key reason I did the book launch party - to test this out step by step from start to finish, to help editors see how it worked and to build a "how to manual" for them Ask away if you have any questions!

I also did a virtual wine tasting. This wasns't "preplanned" but was more that I posted a photo of each cocktail I drank as the evening went on, and people chimed in with what they were drinking. So here's the first one I posted -