It's been a minute since I did a post, and this one is going to be good and long! LOL
June was THE busiest month. I knew going into it that it would be crazy, because I was booked for 3 of the 4 weekends in June. Two weekends were for weddings, and the third was Knockout Book Bash.
The first weekend was beautiful and local, and it was fairly easy. It was for the son of one of my girlfriends, and it was a beautiful ceremony!
The second wedding was VERY different! It was for my cousin Mackenzie, who was marrying into a Mennonite/ former Amish family. It was in the middle of a field, with trees swaying around us. Yes, it was hotter than blazes, so we all had little neck fans and hand fans.
The ceremony was one of the most religious I've ever been to, and that's saying a lot because I have been to a Catholic wedding. We prayed a lot, and honestly, there were aspects of the ceremony I didn't agree with, but it was her wedding and those were the choices she made.
Partway through, they started talking about branding. How they were no longer individual brands but were now a family brand. So, in the middle of the ceremony, they branded a piece of hide with their new family crest. It was unique, and nothing I'd ever seen before, but it was beautiful.
That was also the only wedding I've been to that didn't have liquor at the reception. Well, other than the 2 bottles they were auctioning off for the couple! LOL
And then, after two long years of waiting and planning, we had Knockout Book Bash. I'm not gonna lie, I was worried going into the weekend, and I've told several people the same thing. It's like releasing book 2 of a series when book 1 was a raging success and hoping that it's just as good for people.
Luckily, it seems like it was as big of a success as the first one, and I'm so thankful for that. The authors were amazingly cooperative, as were the readers. My volunteers were beyond amazing! Everyone got along perfectly, and the staff at the Muhammad Ali center were spectacular.
The charity I chose, Dogs Helping Heroes, will be receiving a check for $15000! I feel like that's pretty amazing!
So, one of the good and bad things that happens when you run a successful conference is, you get asked when the next one is. When can we buy tickets for the next one? Where's it going to be? What authors are going to be there?
We started planning 2026 BEFORE we even had the 2024 signing. No lie. But it takes time to set everything up and get all the invites out, get the hotel booked, absorb feedback from 2024 attendees... It's really a lot. And though I created little conferences when I was in Kentucky Romance Writers, it was nothing on this scale. So, it's been a learning experience!
The next Knockout Book Bash will be in Lexington Kentucky June 13th, 2026, and we already have an amazing lineup of authors!
It was very hard to write in June, for obvious reasons, but I'm getting back into the swing of things. I'm working on the next Columbus Lost and Found book, as well as book 3 in the Nightshade series for Susan Stoker's world. I've also started the next book in the Dogs of War series! You will be seeing a lot from me in the next five months!
Later, peeps!
Jen