Fourteen years ago, my first mystery (Murder Imperfect) was published and I had a plan for publicizing it. A library’s meeting room was booked, press releases went out, refreshments were purchased. The appointed day came.
The attendance: me, my wife, and an assistant librarian.
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I have spoken to audiences in highly unusual settings. One garden club met in a party room. |
Then, two years later, I received an invitation from a suburban
Boston garden club. The club had chosen my third book (The Garden Club Gang)
as their summer read, and now they wanted me to speak about it and answer
questions at their September pot-luck dinner-with-spouses meeting. But, two
weeks before the meeting, the club president called. “We’re a garden club,” she
said, “not just a social group. You’re welcome to talk about the book, but could
you also include some gardening information?”
Betty already had a reputation as a superb horticultural
speaker. I asked if I could ‘borrow’ one of her programs. I was met with an icy
stare.
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Those essays might be useful... |
On the appointed evening, I gave the primordial version of
the program that would become ‘Gardening Is Murder’. When it was over, the club president offered
her concise appraisal and criticism: “We couldn’t hear you because we were
laughing so hard.”
In the intervening years, more than 600 groups ranging from small
clubs to state and regional meetings with hundreds of attendees have had pretty
much the same reaction. Gardening and humor can go together quite well.
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Signing books, with Betty |
While I was not aware of it, my talk also was videoed by the
town’s cable system. Last week, it went up on YouTube. The production values
are quite good.
If you’ve never seen ‘Gardening Is Murder’, please take a look at the video, which can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a7YDxugoo4. I begin speaking just before the two-minute mark.
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