Vagabond's Maplewood Launch

This post was written on June 6, 2016

Seventeen years ago--right around the time the cicadas were last in southwestern Pennsylvania--I waitressed in my hometown for the summer before moving to New York. I’d drive to work with cicadas hurling themselves against my windshield, getting stuck in my windshield wipers. That summer I also spent a lot of time in isolated dive bars with the other servers, where drinking wasn’t done for fun and you only stopped when your night’s tips ran out. It was on one of these nights that someone mentioned a bartender who, one day, had somehow lost an eye--and no one was very surprised. That offhand comment stuck with me, and, not much later, that one-eyed bartender became Ramsy, my novel’s main character. The cicadas that year disappeared, as they do, and I began to write what would become Each Vagabond by Name. It’s fitting that the cicadas are back now in Pennsylvania, just as Vagabond emerges into the world. 

So went the introduction to my reading Friday night, at the wonderful Words Bookstore in Maplewood, New Jersey--Each Vagabond by Name’s official pub day welcome. The novel has been in the world for weeks, and had been pre-welcomed in New Orleans in April, but since June 1 was its official publication date, it deserved a celebration. My Maplewood friends and neighbors--as well as some out-of-town family and friends--were all too happy to make it into an occasion to remember, and 85 of them gathered at Words for the book reading and signing. What a thrill to sell out of books at the store, and sell nearly all of the just-in-case books I’d stowed in the trunk of my car. (Overpreparation: a justification.)

The book-signing line stretched through the store. I gave everyone a letterpressed bookmark made by my dad. I was truly moved by the crowd: I’ve lived a lot of places over the past twenty years, and I’m certain that not nearly as many book-loving friends and local supporters would have ventured out in any of those former homes. The Maplewood community is a great thing. 

Afterward, at my home, we celebrated with Pennsylvania beer, a cocktail Andrew and I named the “pigeon,” pepperoni rolls brought in from a store near my hometown, a fire pit, lots of country music, a cake with Vagabond’s cover, and Vagabond tote bags as book swag. How gratifying it was to hear the people who’ve read the book talk about their love for the characters (and speculate on who’d play Ramsy in a movie version). Having so many friends there to cheer the book--and share my excitement and happiness--was truly unforgettable. Vagabond’s launch was everything I could have hoped for. 

A note: although the pictures might suggest otherwise, I didn’t consciously plan for my outfit to match the book cover. But how fun that it does.