I'll See You In Hell! (In a good way)
The Date from Hell release day! And an update on the LWR and the fire
It’s THE DATE FROM HELL release day, meaning I’ve committed a rom-com duology, the Match Made in Hell series! We’ll get to that in a second, but first a quick update on the Lexington Writer’s Room fire situation.
WHERE WE ARE AND THANK YOU
Last Thursday morning was up there for awful days of my life (not the worst, though, as I’ve said, because NO ONE was hurt). I never doubted we would survive as a nonprofit, but a nonprofit that is built around space needs, well, space. The loss of most of our *things* and that beautiful building is a true tragedy. Particularly for the owners, who are friends and are absolutely gutted.
But our all-volunteer board went right to work, because the situation was so clear. And while we can't say where just yet, we are well on our way to securing a new home (which we'll reveal as soon as the lease is signed—maybe next week). As I said in our private group: Life moves fast, but Lexington Writer's Room's board moves faster. (My friend Sam said: The Devil moves fast, but Gwenda moves faster ;) But it was a group effort.)
We still absolutely need help, because we’re a nonprofit who just lost nearly everything (today was the salvage process and it was…bleak). I hope our quick efforts to recover get across just how much we love this community and are determined to make its place in the world, no matter what we face. I also think it will make a lot of people happy that this particular new space is going to be a creative hub. And I hope that these past few days make clear to everyone that we are using your dollars with the utmost care and efficiency.
You can see our board chair and fellow co-founder Lisa Haneberg (my official second in any duel) on WKYT expressing our thanks for the outpouring of support yesterday. We’ve raised more than $10,000 to help with the recovery and transition so far.
Here’s the first tweet in a long thread of the various ways to support us. Direct donations are obviously the first, but we also have a Bookshop affiliate store, a Bonfire T-shirt shop, are an Amazon Smile charity, and our member Jason Sizemore, publisher of Apex, has declared us their charity of the month. Check out the thread for links to all this and more, including the photos from when we got inside (it was much worse than we expected).
And keep spreading the word. Donating is not the only way to help. THANK YOU.
I HAVE A NEW BOOK OUT
I’d have to say this is the strangest book release ever, and that includes the day Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds came out and I was walking the girls and was assaulted (I fought off the attacker) by a guy who had also assaulted a college student and was picked up immediately after I tangled with him. It’s very strange to have been through literal fire and in the midst of emergency recovery mode and asking for donations and now to ask people to buy or support in some way (check outs and buy requests at the library rock!) my new book.
But. These dogs and cats and hoomans gotta eat.
Also, I really had a tremendous time writing these books and I hope they give you the joyful, bonkers, swoon-filled escape you need right now or sometime.
If you’re local, tomorrow night is a launch event in Lexington at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at 7 p.m. It will be FUN! I need FUN! Come! And also, the store will have this rad special menu in the Bistro all day, so come early and get your bedeviled meal.
This store is too good to me. I love them. You can also call them up in advance if you want signed and personalized books. They ship!
And then Thursday evening, join us for a giant online extravaganza hosted by Bookstore Romance Day (and the raddest founder of same, Billie Bloebaum) featuring a whole bunch of authors who write YA and adult romance — Lish McBride, Kosoko Jackson, Farah Heron, Madeleine Roux, and Ash Poston — who have graciously agreed to make this event a fundraiser for the Lexington Writer’s Room.
Celebrate the publication of Gwenda Bond's latest book, The Date from Hell, at a virtual book launch featuring a panel of authors who write Romance for both teens and adults. There will be a drawing to win free books for every registered attendee. We'll also be raising money for the Lexington Writers' Room, which recently suffered damage to their home base when the building next door caught fire. Attendees who make a donation to help them recover will be entered to win an amazing prize package.
You should come! There will be silly games and probably accidentally profound comments. Register here.
Last, but not least, Tif Marcelo is an absolute angel and invited me to be part of some group promotion with several release day siblings today. You can catch us doing live interviews as detailed here TODAY (and available after too) — you just have go to the URL and join the group to see them. Check out their books too!
Thanks for reading! I was going to add a giveaway q and a here, but I’ll save it for Thursday. Get ready. I want to hear about YOUR dates from hell.
Details and purchase in ebook, print, or audio:
NOT YOUR AVERAGE HOT GUY
Hooray Date from Hell! Rise from the ashes, Lexington Writer's Room!