Thoughts. I Haz Them: 2022 (Part 3)

Sales Total?

Over the last ten days, Rebekah and I have brought BryonySeries books and edible vampire slaying kits to three events.

You might be curious how well we sold. 

And you might be curious how many edible vampire slaying kits we gave away.

Well, I'm happy to share.

1) WriteOn Joliet's anthology release party on Dec. 8 at the Joliet Public Library: Eleven BryonySeries books sold, eleven anthologies sold, six edible vampire slaying kits given away

2) The Book Market on Dec. 13 in Crest Hill: Five BryonySeries books: three edible vampire slaying kits given away

3) Elder Brewing Co.: Ten books sold, seven edible vampire slaying kits given away.

And two books sold online on Saturday. And one on Dec. 2 in advance of the anthology release party.

I'm sure other authors boast far more impressive numbers. I'm just not other authors.

However, everyone who bought books (and those who took home edible vampire slaying kits) seemed very happy to take them home. 

For instance:

1) One repeat customer really wanted a copy of holiday Visage (which is out of print, only the official version is available) and will be very happy to know he won a copy (the odds are in your favor when few people enter to win).

2) One customer has a tween granddaughter that writes and bought all three Girls of the BryonySeries books.

3) One repeat customer really wanted a book in the Girls of the BryonySeries only to find out that one isn't written yet (this subseries will have eight books total).

4) One customer came back to my table where a potential customer and his daughter were looking at books. The customer was munching a cookie from an edible vampire slaying kit and said, "The cookies are soo good!" He proceeded to tear into a second cookie. The people at the table bought a book and took home an edible vampire slaying kit, to.

5) One customer was looking for something dark and happily bought a book. Another customer at the same venue wanted nothing to do with the supernatural and happily took home two books for her children. By the time I had arrived home, she had sent a photo through one of the BryonySeries social media accounts of her youngest children looking at a Bertrand the Mouse book and thanked me for introducing her to the series.

As a local author, I'm more interested in fostering happiness and enjoyment than I am in making money. 

For many happy hours are to be had between the pages of a good book.

Now I have nothing against making money, especially since money is needed to make more books. And I also didn't say I'm not interested in making money, either.

But artists must be realistic when selling their art. Many artists, perhaps most of them, will not make any significant amount of money selling art, whether the art is a painting or a book.

If you don't want a book, I'm not too eager to sell one to you either.

But if you might want a book, you should know where to find them. 

And this is why I market them. And why I show up at venues and events. 

I'm actually hoping sneak back into The Book Market this week.

I have just six edible vampire slaying kits left.

And for the sake of the their creators, I'm hoping to find good homes for them.

Just like the the books and kits that found good homes over the last ten days.

Illustration by Sue Midlock for "Cornell Dyer and the Calcium Deficient Bones"

Slay Vampires With Just One Bite

Don't believe that?

How about slay a holiday sweet tooth with just one cookie?

For anyone in the Will County, Illinois area that's "dying" for a complimentary edible vampire slaying kit, you have one last opportunity on Saturday to possibly receive one.

On Saturday, Rebekah, our books, the kits, and I will be hanging out at the Elder Brewing Co. holiday market in Joliet from 2 to 8 p.m. Elder Brewing Co. is located at 218 E. Cass St. in Joliet.

Bob Okon, senior reporter at The Herald-News, wrote a wonderful story about Elder Brewing Com. last year when this family-owned business celebrated its fourth anniversary. Read Bob's story here.

The edible vampire slaying kit is not for sale. It is a "thank you" gift for select purchases. Read on for details.

By the way, Timothy replaced all of the silver stickers (above) with red wax rose-shaped seals before we distributed the first one (below).

He felt they looked more vampire-slaying authentic.

See the difference?

Books and Edible Vampire Slaying Kit:

Soooo...

Every person who buys one (or more) of these book combinations will receive a free, locally chef-made edible vampire slaying kit per combination - while edible vampire slaying kits last.

Edible vampire slaying kits are not limited to one per customer. But for each additional kit, you must still purchase one of these four combinations.

1) One "regular" young adult or adult BryonySeries book (choices include any book in the "drop of blood" trilogy, Lycanthropic Summer, The Phoenix, Call of the Siren, Ruthless by Ed Calkins Steward of Tara or any of the Before the Blood books) or Nine Months of Kindness.

2) Any two books in The Adventures of Cornell Dyer series.

3) Any two books in the Girls of the BryonySeries series.

4) Any three books in the Bertrand the Mouse series.

5) All three of our BryonySeries cookbooks.

To check out details of most of those books, visit bryonyseries.com/general-store.

To be clear, you cannot buy one of these edible vampire slaying kits at the anthology release party. They are strictly gifts for select purchases.

The cookies that make up these kits were made locally from scratch and packaged by three local chefs (pastry and otherwise). Jasmine provided much of the creativity and delicate decorating. Timothy and Rebekah provided a lot of labor.

Each cookies is individually wrapped and sealed and displayed inside a matte finished box. These cookies also freeze well.

If you can, pop in to say, "hi" and maybe purchase a book (or two or three) and take home some really interesting and delicious holiday treats.

Uncle Barty and Bertrand the Mouse Party at the Joliet Public Library

I was so busy at WriteOn Joliet's anthology release party last week without my better WriteOn half (Tom Hernandez had a last minute emergency), that I neglected my own table of books.

Fortunately, I had plenty of help from Rebekah and Jasmine, as well as little Bertrand The Mouse and his Uncle Barty.

They came decked out in their best crocheted mice finery, mingled with guests, showed off BryonySeries books for sale, directed passersby to the book giveaway boxes, and made sure everyone's attention was directed to our edible vampire slaying kits.

Below is a quick photo recap of Uncle Barty and Bertrand's night.

And if you missed Thursday's fun, come out to The Book Market in Crest Hill today (Dec. 13) from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

Rebekah, the books, the edible vampire slaying kits, the mice, and me will be hanging out there.

The edible vampire slaying kits are not for sale. They are thank you" gifts for select purchases as long as kits last.

Details are here.

Oh, and The Book Market is located at 2365 Plainfield Road in Crest Hill. 

And it has a new trailer. 

Watch it here.

Hope to see you there!

Books, Cookies, and Beer

For anyone in the Will County, Illinois area that's "dying" for a complimentary edible vampire slaying kit, you now have two more opportunities this week to possibly receive one.

On Tuesday, Rebekah, our books, the kits, and I will be hanging out at The Book Market in Crest Hill from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Book Market is located at 2365 Plainfield Road in Crest Hill.

Then on Saturday, we will be at the Elder Brewing Co. holiday market in Joliet from 2 to 8 p.m. Elder Brewing Co. is located at 218 E. Cass St. in Joliet.

Read on for details on how to get your edible vampire slaying it.

Books and Edible Vampire Slaying Kit:

Every person who buys one (or more) of these combinations will receive a free, locally chef-made edible vampire slaying kit per combination - while edible vampire slaying kits last.

Edible vampire slaying kits are not limited to one per customer. But for each additional kit, you must still purchase one of these four combinations.

1) One "regular" young adult or adult BryonySeries book (choices include any book in the "drop of blood" trilogy, Lycanthropic Summer, The Phoenix, Call of the Siren, Ruthless by Ed Calkins Steward of Tara or any of the Before the Blood books) or Nine Months of Kindness.

2) Any two books in The Adventures of Cornell Dyer series.

3) Any three books in the Bertrand the Mouse series.

4) All three of our BryonySeries cookbooks.

To check out details of most of those books, visit bryonyseries.com/general-store.

To be clear, you cannot buy one of these edible vampire slaying kits at the anthology release party. They are strictly gifts for select purchases.

The cookies that make up these kits were made locally from scratch and packaged by three local chefs (pastry and otherwise). Jasmine provided much of the creativity and delicate decorating. Timothy and Rebekah provided a lot of labor.

Each cookies is individually wrapped and sealed. These cookies also freeze well.

If you can, pop in to say, "hi" and maybe purchase a book (or two or three) and take home some really interesting and delicious cookies.

Books and Edible Vampire Slaying Kits

If you come out to WriteOn Joliet's sixth anthology release party on Dec. 8 at the Black Road branch of the Joliet Public Library, be sure to stop by the BryonySeries table and check out our books, a "Books and Edible Vampire Slaying Kit" special offer, and opportunities to win a copy of the holiday version of Visage, which is out of print, and one complete set of Bertrand the Mouse books.

You want details about these, right? Sure you do!

And here we go!

Books and Edible Vampire Slaying Kit:

Every person who buys one (or more) of these combinations will receive a free, locally chef-made edible vampire slaying kit per combination - while edible vampire slaying kits last.

Edible vampire slaying kits are not limited to one per customer. But for each additional kit, you must still purchase one of these four combinations.

1) One "regular" young adult or adult BryonySeries book (choices include any book in the "drop of blood" trilogy, Lycanthropic Summer, The Phoenix, Call of the Siren, Ruthless by Ed Calkins Steward of Tara or any of the Before the Blood books) or Nine Months of Kindness.

2) Any two books in The Adventures of Cornell Dyer series.

3) Any three books in the Bertrand the Mouse series.

4) All three of our BryonySeries cookbooks.

To check out details of most of those books, visit bryonyseries.com/general-store.

To be clear, you cannot buy one of these edible vampire slaying kits at the anthology release party. They are strictly gifts for select purchases.

These kits were made locally by three local chefs (pastry and otherwise). Jasmine provided much of the creativity and delicate decorating. Timothy and Rebekah provided a lot of labor.

A LOT of labor. 

We have twenty-two kits of six large cookies, all made and packaged by hand.

I know, I know. You want to know if the items sparkle? Well, yes. Some DO sparkle since they are sprinkled with edible glitter. 

Seriously, glitter alone should slay any real vampires. But I digress.

I also have this surprise collection of edible titles, etc.. I wasn't expecting these, and I'm not certain of their fate - yet. 

Bertrand the Mouse giveaway

We will also "give away" one complete set of all Bertrand the Mouse books published (to date) .

NO purchase is necessary. Just drop your name and contact information in our Bertrand Box. 

A random person (not anyone from our team) will select the winner at the end of the event and leave the prize package at the library's circulation desk for the winner to pick up at his/her convenience.

Holiday "Visage" Giveaway

This BryonySeries book is the second book in the "drop of blood" trilogy and can be read as a standalone.

The book is out of print and only available from us.

It has some "extras" in the back of the book that are not in the official version (such as a picture of me in a kangaroo suit).

The cover is very different.

And it has an introduction by me celebrating artists and creative folk. This is the first and only BryonySeries book that has an introduction.

We will be giving away three of these. Again, NO purchase is necessary. You only need to drop your name into the "Visage" Box.

A random person (not anyone from our team) will select the three winners at the end of the event and leave the prize package at the library's circulation desk for the winner to pick up at his/her convenience.

WriteOn Joliet's Sixth Anthology

And, of course, we will have plenty of anthologies (the 2022 anthology and a limited number of past anthologies) available for sale - along with the opportunity to meet many of the writers who contributed to these wonderful books of poems, essays, and short stories.

The anthology is a fundraiser for WriteOn Joliet, so all money stays with the group to support additional programs.

You may also purchase the anthology on Amazon.

But I live too far away....

For anyone near or far who cannot attend the actual event: message me at bryonyseries@gmail.com if you're interested in some of the BryonySeries books.

I will reward your reading of this post by working out a special discount just for you.

For those planning to attend:

The anthology release party will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Joliet Public Library, Black Road branch, 3395 Black Road in Joliet.

Admission to the anthology release party is free.

The celebration includes complimentary appetizers and desserts, an informal meet and greet with local authors who are members of the group, and the opportunity to purchase copies of the anthology as well as as individual works by individual authors.

The Book and Bean Cafe, which is located inside the library, will have a variety of heartier food as well as coffee, tea, and other beverages, available for purchase.

Janet Staley, owner of The Book Market in Crest Hill, will handle checkout. Everyone who buys a book, either the anthology or a book from the other tables, will receive a Book Market bookmark that features a ten percent discount on books at Staley's store through January 31, 2023.

The party is for all ages. So if your children and grandchildren have yet to visit Santa this year, bring them out. 

Photos with Santa are free. Santa, known as Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara the rest of the year, will also be signing and selling his own BryonySeries books.

And he will most likely sign any BryonySeries books in which he also appears as a character.

Santa will also give away away free candy canes as long as he has some left to give.

Bertrand the Mouse and his Uncle Barty will also be hanging out all night, greeting guests.

Bertrand will have limited copies of his books to sell. He just fulfilled a large order for Santa and Amazon can't ship more books in time.

Invite your family. 

Invite your friends. 

Invite your neighbors. 

Invite anyone who likes books, outstanding food, great coffee, and meeting wonderful humans.

And invite anyone who really wants to take home an edible vampire slaying kit, which are packed up and ready to go.

Do You Know What This Is?

Or, more to the point, do you know what this will become?

Well, we're not sharing that until Monday.

But here is a hint.

This...stuff...will become part of a very unique "thank you" gift for select purchases of BryonySeries books at WriteOn Joliet's anthology release party on Dec. 8 at the Joliet Public Library, Black Road branch.

Of course, we will only have a limited amount of these "thank you" gifts. So we will offer them as supplies last.

Naturally, we have plenty supplies to make the very best gifts.

So if you are in the area next Thursday, and have a couple of spare minutes, please stop out.

Keep scrolling for more features of the night.

We will have anthologies and local authors selling their individual works. This picture is from the 2019 release party at The Book Market in Crest Hill.

We will have Santa. This picture was taken last year at the Joliet Public Library right after we packed up for the night.

We will have free, complimentary, upscale snacks prepared by Timothy. Here is Timothy's spread at The Book Market in Crest Hill in 2019.

And we will have Janet Staley, owner of The Book Market, will handle checkout and have special store offers for everyone who makes a purchase at the party.

And we hope to see you, too!