Travel & Planning a Book Launch

Yes, it’s been a little quiet around here for a while, but that doesn’t mean nothing’s been going on! Okay, it’s true—most of my activities take place mentally, but this time it’s been a fair mix of planning and follow-through!

We just returned from our twice-yearly trip to New Hampshire with a detour through Charlottesville, Virginia (what an awesome place—just sayin’) to pick up my sister for our pilgrimage to visit family in New England. In all, I visited with five of my six siblings, but that has nothing to do with my writing...

...speaking of which...since Uncharted, Story for a Shipwright will be released on October 1, and would likely coincide with our autumn trip to NH, and since the story primarily takes place in Maine, I thought New England would be a fitting backdrop for my book launch. I considered someplace coastal, but I wanted something more local to where I spent the larger part of my adult life—the Sunapee Lakes Region. I also wanted something intimate (as in, not some huge chain bookstore) with local appeal and interest in promoting ‘local’ writers and artists. With some recommendations and research, I narrowed down my choices to the MainStreet BookEnds independent bookstore in Warner, New Hampshire. Serendipitously, Warner NH has a well attended Fall Foliage Festival during the first weekend in October (6^th and 7^th), and the bookstore is a hub of activity! Perfect!

So, I had some business-type cards printed up, announcing  Uncharted ’s release, rehearsed my ten-second what’s-it-about pitch (“It’s about a reserved New England shipwright and a spear-fishing girl who is either delusional or the missing key to his family’s mysterious past.”) which I didn’t end up using, though I know it will come in handy for the book signing.

Todd accompanied me, nudging me forward as I smoothed my skirt and entered the Colonial house bookstore. After stumbling my way through an introduction, I found the owners of MainStreet BookEnds so very amiable and enthusiastic that I’m actually looking forward to the event (easy to say with it still three months down the road). In fact, the bookstore exceeded my expectations! Meanwhile, I have lots of preparations to keep me busy, in addition to final edits. As long as I keep moving forward and don’t look down, I should be okay.

Updated Website

As some of you know, I have a Website showcasing my watercolor painting--I own my domain JBChicoine.com, which is a very handy thing when you're having a novel published. Back in 2006 when I initially set up the Website, I had no intention of branching off into writing seriously, nor did I really have any idea how to construct a Website, but I had a program (MS FrontPage) that made the prospect seem manageable. So, I published a Webiste focusing on my art, but with my novel Uncharted coming out in October, I needed to reconstruct my home page, dividing it between my two endeavors. Problem was, I updated it so infrequently that I had to virtually relearn the program every time I wanted to add a new work of art. I was dreading having to create a whole new homepage without messing up the entire site.


Last week, I put the final touches on it, even redesigning the header (which meant painting something that fit both themes). I'll admit there are some glitches that annoy me and I can't figure out how to get them quite right, but I won't point out the specific flaws. I will instead announce that I have a 'new' Website, J.B. Chicoine, Author & Artist. 

As more of my novels are published, I will add them to the Website, but this blog is where I'll provide updates on things pertaining to my writing.