One Crazy Summer...

By: Maegan Beaumont

Six months ago, I made a prediction. I boldly proclaimed as fantastically awesome as 2013 had been (and for me, it really had), 2014 was going to be even better.

As it turns out, I'm psychic.

Six months in and 2014 has managed to blow 2013 out of the water!

Book 2 in my Sabrina Vaughn series, SACRIFICIAL MUSE, will be out in a few weeks. Here she is, side-by-side, with her big sister (who's wearing her shiny gold seal from Independent Publishers).

In 5 days (5!!!) I will be attending ALA, my first "real" writer's conference in Las Vegas. I'll be signing books for both Sisters in Crime and Midnight Ink. If you're attending, stop by and say "hi"!

After I get home, I'll be hosting a signing at the world-famous bookstore, The Poisoned Pen, for SACRIFICIAL MUSE, along with my fellow MInker, C.J. Carpenter, who will be signing copies of her debut release, NEVER ALONE.

http://www.poisonedpenevents.com/?ai1ec_event=beaumont&instance_id=198

I'll be handing out some pretty cool prizes, so if you like free stuff, show up and you just might get some!

At the end of July, I'll put on my traveling shoes (they're Birkenstocks, just in case you're wondering...) again. This time I'll be heading to Kennewick, WA for the weekend to sign books at Tri-cities Books with Patricia Briggs, author of the Mercy Thompson series.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bookworm-Tri-Cities/124742419618


AND THEN...

At the end of August, I'll be taking my long awaited research trip to NYC/Boston! I'll spend a week soaking in as much local color as possible so that I can start my new stand-alone crime novel, set in South Boston, about a bartender who gets mixed up with the local crime boss. (not to worry... Sabrina will be back!)

Just thinking about all the traveling and excitement in the coming months has got me feeling like a kid at Christmas! It's gonna be crazy... and it's gonna be FUN!

Maegan Beaumont is the author of CARVED IN DARKNESS, the first book in the Sabrina Vaughn thriller series (Available through Midnight Ink, spring 2013). A native Phoenician, Maegan's stories are meant to make you wonder what the guy standing in front of you in the Starbucks line has locked in his basement, and feel a strong desire to sleep with the light on. When she isn't busy fulfilling her duties as Domestic Goddess for her high school sweetheart turned husband, Joe, and their four children, she is locked in her office with her computer, her coffee pot and her Rhodesian Ridgeback, and one true love, Jade.

Celebrating Libraries

I'm jumping the gun a bit in celebrating libraries, because next week, April 14 - 20, is National Library Week, a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. It was first celebrated in 1958. The theme this year is "Communities Matter @ Your Library" and the Honorary Chair is Caroline Kennedy. The purpose of the observance is to honor the contributions libraries and librarians make to our communities and to encourage library support and use.

Many libraries hold author festivals during and around National Library Week, inviting local authors to attend and give presentations, talk to patrons, sell and sign books, etc. I am participating in THREE library author festivals in Colorado in April:

Saturday, April 13, 2013, 12:30 - 6:00 PM
Mountain of Authors
East Library Branch of Pikes Peak Library District
5550 N. Union Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80918

Saturday, April 20, 1:00 – 3:00 PM
2013 Longmont Library Festival's Colorado Author Open House
(part of their 2-week You Belong Longmont Library Festival)
Longmont Public Library
409 4th Ave., Longmont, CO 80501

Sunday, April 28, 2013, 1:00 – 4:00 PM
2013 Meet the Faces – Colorado Author Open House
Englewood Public Library
1000 Englewood Pkwy, Englewood, CO 80110-2373

Is YOUR local library planning an event or events for National Library Week? What are they? Do you plan to attend?

While a child, I made weekly trips to the library with my mother and siblings and checked out the maximum number of books I was allowed each week. I devoured them during the week and looked forward to the next visit, when I could check out more books. Those trips fostered my lifelong love of reading, and my love of writing that developed as a result. My wish is that EVERY child has access to books in their own language to encourage them to develop a love of reading and a lifelong thirst for knowledge. Do YOU have special memories of visiting a library as a child? Share them!

Whether your libary is large ...

... or medium-sized or small,

I hope you will visit it this week or next. Check out a book or audiobook or movie, use the computer, ask a reference question, attend a program, thank a librarian for what they do, make a donation. And take a child with you!