Recently, I held a margarita party to launch the latest supper club mystery: Chili Con Corpses. Because the book centers around a Mexican and Spanish cooking class, I wanted to have a fiesta at my house. I planned this two months ago and thought the party would come off without a hitch. Well….there were several hitches. The first was that I ordered 48 plastic margarita glasses on eBay - all of which had different handle designs. Some had cacti, some parrots, etc. They were really cute and I figured no one would get their drink confused with someone else’s. Well, two days before the party the glasses had still not been delivered to my house. When I looked back at the eBay page, I saw that on the VERY bottom of the listing, in minute, size 4 font, was a message reading that no items would be shipped until Jan. 6th, being that the seller was on vacation.
The party was on the 4th!
So I ended up buying plastic pink and orange cups that split when they got too cold. Being that I served traditional and strawberry margaritas, I have a lot of floor and rug cleaning ahead of me today.
The second hitch was that I also ordered this super cool neon margarita glass sign on the Internet. I paid extra for FedEx so that it would be delivered a mere two hours before the party. I was so delighted to see the UPS man that I almost kissed him (he’s cute too). Imagine my surprise when I opened the box and saw, instead of my margarita glass, a sign reading LIVE NUDES. Well, what’s a girl to do? I hung it up outside for all the neighbors to see! Why do they say LIVE nudes anyway? If they were dead, it would mean we're lining up for a mortician's convention, right?
The last hitch was that our downstairs toilet overflowed at the very second that my mother-in-law was trying to sneak the children in from outside and up to bed. It flowed all over the floor and out into the hall.
It was the best signing I ever had!
Any funny party stories from this past holiday season you’d like to share? Wedding stories? Crazy signing occurrences?
11 comments:
JB, how much do you want for the sign? I want to get my bid in before Mark Terry does.
Yeah, that would be great. I just can't decide: Should I put it outside my office or, since our house is on a corner, if it might go really well right next to the Stop sign.
JB--I didn't check Amazon, but I wonder if anyone has used the title "Live Nudes." Carl Hiaasen maybe?
Not sure it would work for a mystery, but you've proven it can work for comedy.
Congrats on a sensational book launch!
Nina
I guess you proved your point, JB. The sign definitely got Mark and Joe to pay attention.
I'd love to start a bidding war between you two gentlemen, but my husband's most taciturn, reserved coworker pulled me aside and asked me to sell it to him. I was so shocked that I just told him to go ahead and take it.
His wife is still not speaking to me...
JB, the world of fiction often doesn't have stories that inventive, and yours just fell right in your lap. I assume you'll be mining this for future fiction gold?
JB,
His wife's just ticked off because he put it over their bed. :)
Mark,
How did you know, you naughty, naught man!
What a hoot! My signing stories absolutely pale next to this. This made me giggle all through my lunch hour today.
And I love your "roll with the punches" attitude.
If I hung that sign outside my apartment building, I have no doubt the LAPD would pay me a visit, right after they chatted with the drug dealers on the 2nd floor. On the other hand, I could use the money for book promotion.
No chance, Sue Ann. The more likely scenario is that one of the officer would instantly succumb to your magnetic personality and ask you out for a drink...maybe even a margarita!
JB, you're a real trooper, you know? Sounds like a great party.
And here we were wondering what to get Joe for his birthday...
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