This is going to be quite the long post, so you may want to click the title to read the whole thing. We had a wonderful time in Seattle at the packing party and I want to first thank everyone for their help, host-age, and good humor. I had a blast! You can go here to see all the photos we took.

On Saturday I drove Kender and Ember up to Seattle. Our journey started at 7:30 am, with a quick trip to the gas station and Brewed Awakenings for iced and extra hot mochas. We took a brief pit stop an hour later and hopped back into the car. We made really good time (despite all the cops on I-5), and arrived about 15 minutes before the party got started. Unfortunately, there were no fooderies to have lunch so we didn’t eat till way later. (mmm pizza)

Our host, Kelley, gave us a quick rundown of her house and showed us the many boxes of books out in the garage. Ember and I snapped a copy each and started drooling over the book. It felt so good to hold the actual book in my hands. I think tears welled up in my eyes at one point… I couldn’t believe my good fortune. As everyone else started to arrive, the conversations bounced between Ravens, ourselves, writing, other books, and eBook readers. Oh and everyone introduced ourselves with real names, LJ names and twitter account names. *gryn*

Finally Phil and Sandi showed up and the party got started. Flat wrapped boxes and bubble wrap containers and the first group of books got set into the living room as we organized ourselves into some form of activity. We folded boxes, put single copies of books into each box and repeated the activity for hours. When that was done, we put bubble wrap around the books and then taped the boxes up. It took the administrative area (aka kitchen) many hours to get the labels merged and finally, placed on the boxes. We ended up getting all 800 copies, located at the house, boxed and ready for shipping in about 7 hours. Talk about a group of passionate, driven, and focused supporters!

Kender drove us home and we arrived around 9:30pm. It was a long but fulfulling day. My body didn’t like how I neglected it tho, so I got a bit tired and cranky at the end. That said, I’m still really pleased with how the day went. Ember spent time on the sofa reading her copy while I cooked another pizza to feed my growling tummy.

At last count, the pre-orders sold out over the initial run of 1000 books! You all are amazing. Yes, there will be a second and third print run and you can still order a copy of RAVENS IN THE LIBRARY. I was not able to sign any books but I did recognize many of my friends who ordered copies. So thank you all for the support! The books begin flying out the door today.

This post doesn’t accurately represent or wrap up all my thoughts on Saturday. I felt like I fit in with everyone who helped out. We joked all day long and fed off the energy and one-liners like crazy. Not only did I pick up 5 of my 6 copies, but I met a lot of cool people and gained some new friends. I also signed a few copies for the locals and got some signatures of my own.

I’m excited and hyper and looking forward to Wednesday. I’ll be driving myself back to Seattle for the book signing at The Dreaming Comics in the University District. It starts at 6pm and there will be at least 7 authors/artists there. So for all you local folks, come on up/down and hang with us. I’m going to spend the night and will be bringing my firekit to spin for Phil and Sandi as well.