We are recovering from a big weekend in the Higgins
household. My son’s football team made
the playoffs and we got to watch the team play at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of
the Buffalo Bills! My parents, who
drove in from New England for the weekend, informed me that the last time they
were at the stadium it was called Rich Stadium, they were seated in one of the corporate boxes, and OJ Simpson was playing.
I warned them that if they were to join us they must now call the
stadium The Ralph, they must not complain about the cheap seats, and above all, they
must not speak of OJ. They agreed and
made arrangements to rent a car for the trip.
I can't believe that in the year 2014 the
administrators at Catholic schools still operate under the misguided notion
that mothers don’t have jobs outside the home.
I give you as proof of this misunderstanding the fact that the game was
scheduled at 5 p.m., requiring just about every working mother to arrange to
leave her place of employment early in order to make it to the stadium on time. So, at 4:30, with
Granny and Grumpy in tow, we headed for The Ralph! It was exciting to see our boys up on the jumbotron as we sat on the 30 yard line.
It was like being at a real NFL game.
We experienced falling snow, biting wind, and, sadly, defeat on Thursday
night. Not only did the St. Joe’s
Marauders lose, but later that night the Bills failed to “squish the fish” and
lost to the Miami Dolphins. Later, in
the warmth of our home, we licked our wounds, as well as the bottom of our hot chocolate
mugs and refocused on the next adventure in our weekend.
The big event the following evening was the debut of A Whisper of Bones, the second book in
the Orphans and Inmates series. What were we thinking scheduling such an
important event on a Friday night at seven p.m.? As many of you know, I own a doggy
daycare. I am not sure if I am the only
woman with a Ph.D. who cleans up dog poop, drool, and vomit for a living, but
it's worth mentioning just in case! For eleven
hours a day, five days a week, my world is loud, smelly and hairy! To schedule an event only one hour after we
close for the day is always risky, particularly on a weekend. However, the universe cooperated and with the
help of the best staff a small business owner could hope for, I was out the
door by 6:45!
You may wonder why I chose a small, yet stunning, shop to
debut my second book. It is an antique
shop, not a book store, filled with expensive and breakable stuff. Why would the owners of The Antique Lamp Company
and Gift Emporium agree to play host to a bunch of historical fiction fans? Well, this luminary wonderland was the
inspiration for a similar shop in my book.
It was the perfect place for the debut of Whisper and I could not have conjured more gracious hosts. The experience is an outstanding example of
the power of small business. There was
tremendous support from our local small business association, and another nearby
establishment, Caruso’s Italian Imports, kindly provided some savory treats for
our guests to enjoy while they shopped. The turnout was larger than I have seen for other authors at big chain
bookstores. All in all, the evening was
a complete success. I sold a lot of
books and introduced my readers to one of the many gems in the Hertel Avenue
business district. As the holiday season
approaches remember that books make wonderful gifts and shop local
wherever you can!
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