November Mayhem

Hi everyone!

I made it back from Williamsburg and wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came out to both the Nashville and Williamsburg signing! A special shout out to Brett from the Hendersonville, TN Barnes & Noble for the awesome job he did at GMX and for the team at William & Mary BN in Williamsburg, Beau, Kyle and Joanna were incredibly awesome and we had the best time! And of course to my editor, Monique for making the trip down! Always a pleasure to see her. And of course to my special Menyon brigade and to Marie! Thank you, sweetie for coming! And to my transportation corps couple, Antonio & Antaya from Fort Stewart! Next time I’m in Savannah, Corleone’s is on me :) I still can’t believe you guys drove all that way! And Butler! It was so great to meet you. Thank you to your mom for bringing you down. Remember, Invision— lots of fun things to look forward to :) Lucky Charms Legolas/Aeron . . . that’s all I’m saying :)

I always say that I have the best fans in all the world and you guys prove me right every single, single time. Thank you so much. All of you!! Your stories touch me so much! I know you go through a lot to make it to the signings and I really appreciate the fact that you take time out of your busy lives to come out and share the evenings with me. You guys rock!

And Kim and I are so sorry about New Orleans this weekend. I couldn’t believe when John told us that they had to cancel the event due to weather. I was so bummed! We were so looking forward to being back on my old stomping grounds and visiting old friends. For those who don’t know, Jamestown/Williamsburg and New Orleans are my family/heritage areas and it’s where my roots are for generations on all sides of my family, for hundreds of years. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to do the launches in those two areas this week. Since November is Native American month, I thought it would be neat to pay homage to that branch of my ancestry while launching Born of Betrayal.

Jamestown/Williamsburg is particularly dear to me as I’m a direct descendant on both sides of my family from John Rolfe and Matoaka (Pocahontas). It’s really cool, right? It’s something we’ve confirmed through both DNA and genealogy. But even neater? These are some photos we did for a class project for my son’s report where we placed a couple of my photos (and one of me with my father) alongside Pocahontas and her son Thomas (who was my tenth great-grandfather through my father and ninth through my mother) and the family resemblance is still shocking and apparent.

pocahontas pocahontas2

pocahontas3 pocahontas4

Even stranger is the one of me from middle school when compared to the one of Matoaka Whittle Sims, born 1844, Pittsylvania County, Virginia, descended on both sides from her namesake Pocahontas. That is an actual photograph of Matoaka Whittle Sims, and the only relatives she and I have in common are Thomas Rolfe and his parents. It’s so weird how much we favor to not be any more related than that. Those are some strong genes ;) I’ve always said genes are strange beasties. And yes, for those who don’t know, I’m not a natural redhead. My true hair color is jet black :)

Matoaka2

Anyway, I need to get back to the salt mines. Since the weather beat us up on New Orleans, we will try and do something online next week. I’m getting my team together to see what we can do for the fans ASAP and will let you know what we come up with. Please stay tuned! We’ll let you know on Friday what we’re doing as an online celebration for BoB :)

Lastly, Carl said that a number of fans have been asking about autographed copies of Born of Betrayal. Both Barnes & Noble stores do have a limited number of them that they are willing to ship. Please feel free to contact them if you’re interested. Here’s the information:

TN— If you’d like to purchase one of the copies and have it mailed, please call: 615-264-0183, and ask for an “M.O.D.” or a manager on duty, who can take their order. The store events manager is Brett Cain and he said he’d let all his managers know about this. The cashiers won’t be aware of it so people will need to speak to a manager to put in the order. They can ship books too if needed.

VA— The number to call to order from that store is 757-221-1658, or 757-221-1682.

Big hugs!!