The Ax Murderers' Luncheon

You can keep reading this post.  It’s not what you think.  When I published A Rose for Sergei a few years ago I wasn’t as involved in social media as I needed to be.  I quickly learned that when you self-publish a book everything changes…social media is a necessity.  I began blogging about my book so readers could find me—as an individual and an author.  Other forms of social media soon followed.

Setting up an author page on Goodreads turned out to be a great way to connect with readers and other authors.  I quickly joined a group on that site which provided support for Indie Authors.  My friend and fellow author described what transpired from that chance introduction.

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From Brynne Asher’s Facebook page:

“I've told the story how I was a big fat chicken after writing my first book and it took me forever to get up the nerve to push publish, right?  Well, then it took me even longer to get up the nerve to be social on Goodreads.  I'm not a shy person, but I tend to be a bit social media shy.  Weird, I know.

I joined an Indie author group, thinking it would be the cure of my shyness.  I introduced myself on the thread and the next author to introduce herself was also from Northern Virginia.  We messaged a couple times back and forth.

At this point, I'm giving myself a pat on the back for not being shy and meeting new people, lalala.

Yay me.

Then her next message came through, "We should meet for lunch."

What??  But she could be an ax murderer.  Or a creepy guy who drove a white van with no windows.  Or a freaky-freaky-fan-stalker posing as an author who really wanted to cut off my thumb to keep forever because she loved my book so much and she wanted the digit off my hand that created every space between my eloquently thought out words (not really, it's not like I wrote Harry Potter).

But still, you get me.

So I went to the hubs.  He carries a badge and wields a gun to feed us and support my bargain shopping habit.  I exclaimed, "There's an ax murderer after me!"

The hubs, who's as un-dramatic as I am dramatic, said, "You should meet her for lunch.  It's a public place, what can happen?"

I asked if he would do surveillance, to make sure I was okay.

He said unless I was having lunch across from the Pentagon, then no.  But even if I was, the answer was still no.

So, I loaded my purse up with pepper spray (not really, but that would be funny now if I had) and went to lunch.  I'm so glad I did.  She was not an ax murderer and that day I made a friend for life.  Her name is K. Kidd, she's an extraordinary person who experienced a heartbreaking and incredible love story at a very young age.  Still, after many long lunches sitting across from her laughing, talking about books and everything else under the sun, I cannot believe she experienced what she did.

Her [book] is…worth the read because it's REAL.  It involves falling in love with a defected KGB agent in the early 1970's, Russia and the Cold War.  Her book even had to be approved by the Department of Defense before she could publish.  It reads like fiction and I loved it.”—Brynne Asher, Author of The Carpino Series

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My family also expressed concerns about me meeting a stranger for lunch.  I didn’t even know what Brynne looked like because she uses a photo of her book for her profile picture.  “She” could have turned out to be a “He” who might be a stalker and/or ax murderer.  She was neither of those, and is in fact a very talented and popular writer of Women’s Contemporary Fiction/Romance.

Our last ax murderers’ luncheon took place last week as Brynne Asher and her family prepare for a cross-country move.  Through our shared experiences we are truly friends for life.  That will not change with distance.  As I’ve said before…people come into your life for a reason.