I just finished my first book signing! It was a good experience and I made lots of contacts and connections with the friendly people of Iowa, but it’s always good to be home.
Through a God circumstance a few months ago, I got connected to the owner of a few independent Christian bookstores in Iowa. I had told her a little bit about my books and she asked if I wanted to do a book signing at her stores in Iowa. For those who don’t know, I have quite a few connections to Iowa– my mom was born and raised in Burlington, Iowa City, and Elgin; I attended Faith Baptist College in Ankeny from 2008-2011 and was a part of the music education program and in chorale and loved touring to the different churches we went to and ministering to so many people through the songs and programs our amazing director chose and put together; and I have many friends in all parts of the beautiful state of Iowa. So I was thrilled to be asked to come out and do these book signings!
My mom went with me as my assistant and travel buddy and we took a relax day in the beautiful town of Pella before the book signings began. If you have never been to Pella, you need to go. One of the big draws for Pella is their annual tulip festival. My mom and I went on a nostalgia tour of Iowa last year visiting some her old haunts and some friends for both of us and part of trip was going to the tulip festival. The year before they had too much rain and it was cold and dreary during the festival and the flowers weren’t as vibrant as they could have been. Last year, they were beyond amazing. I have never seen so many different shades and kinds of tulips and it was a feast for the eyes to take in the incredible amounts of beautiful tulips. The town is also a very cute town and because the flowers were so amazing and the festival was doused in copious amounts of sunshine and warmth, about 250,000 people attended the festival and my mom and I decided we wanted to come back some day and see the town without the incredible amount of people. So, when the book signings came up, we decided to add Pella as a relax day and we were not disappointed. So much good food, we had trouble deciding where to eat and got so many recommendations from everyone we talked to(and in Iowa, there are so many friendly people so you end up talking with a lot of people 😉). But, we tried the bakery that had lines out the door and down the block last year and agree–so good! Watched the Klokkenspel, got princess shots taken at a cute boutique, ate more good food, checked out the little canal in town, sat in the park and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was a wonderful, much-needed day of relaxation!
One amazing thing was being on the same book tour with another author, John R. Bain, author of Christie’s Journey: The Beat Goes On. I haven’t read it yet, but definitely bought a copy before the end of our little tour and am very excited to read it. I did get to hear him share about this story over and over again throughout our time in the stores and it is an incredible story. His daughter had a cardiac arrest a couple months after giving birth to her son. Luckily, she was at work and got attended to right away. The heart attack brought to light a birth defect in her heart that hadn’t been discovered for 29 years and usually people with this condition don’t make it past their teen years. She was flown to where a pediatric surgeon performed the surgery to correct the problem. It is a God-story all around and it was such a blessing and encouragement to be on tour with this author. We swapped stories and experiences and I learned a lot from him as a fellow author. His book is definitely worth a check.
John also does a podcast about life called Southeast Iowa Today and asked to do an interview with me in between talking to people about our books. It was unexpected but was fun to share about my books and chat with a fellow author about them. Check out the episode here and be sure to check out his other episodes. They covered a classic car show a couple weeks ago that’s pretty cool(another cool thing we had in common) and cover local games and anything and everything happening in a day in Southeastern Iowa. Check out Round Guy Radio on Spotify and anywhere else you listen to podcasts!
The stores themselves were also incredible to be at. The owner has had the two stores in Grinnell and Marshalltown for a while and had been prompted by God to take on the Eagle’s Nest store in Oskaloosa when the owners retired. She was in process of raising funding for the third store when we first started conversations about the book signing a few months ago and through God’s provision, she got the third store and so I had the opportunity to be at all three stores while I was out there. The staff was incredible at each store and everyone has such a heart for ministering to each and every person that walks into the store. My books will be available in all three stores going forward, which is so exciting and a great opportunity for me. I’m praying for each and every person that buys a book that they will somehow be touched by the stories I’ve written and God’s hand will be shown and revealed to each person. Definitely check out the Stepping Stones/Eagle’s Nest Facebook page and if you’re like me without access to a good Christian bookstore near you, utilize their store to buy your Christian book, gifts and decor!! And I’d love to see pictures of you with your books from the stores, so share them on my social media pages!!
The local paper in Marshalltown also interviewed both me and John, which was a cool experience (two big interviews my first time out lol. No pressure). The storeowner said that the paper in Marshalltown is always supportive of their events at the stores and try to interview the authors that come to do book signings, which is so cool.
My books will be available in these three stores now and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to go out and do this book signing. I had some friends visit me in a couple of the stores, got to enjoy the beautiful towns of Iowa, learned a lot from the other author and from the store owner and will forever grateful for this chance God gave me to get my books and stories into the hands of more people. I am praying blessings over the stores and my books in the stores and am looking forward to future opportunities. The first book in my new series is heading to publishing and I will keep everything updated with official release dates as I find out more, but I’m so excited for this one!! And I’m still working on book 4 of The Solstice Chronicles, so keep watching for that one! It was a week full of blessings last week and I look forward to seeing where God takes my books next!
Ashley Beach-Author and Storyteller 