The Frozen launched April 16, 2022 with a party at Groundswell Cafe in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in honor of my late grandma, Arlene Bidwell, whose love for Christ and kindness to others was a strong model in my life and part of the inspiration for the book.
During the presentation, we munched on a veritable mountain of snacks provided by the MC–a.k.a. my husband Jim–who quipped that he was “under the impression that MC meant ‘Master Chef’–sorry for the confusion.”
Several attendees commented how much they enjoyed the book trailer premiere; one asked, “Was that a movie preview?” They were disappointed to hear that The Frozen isn’t quite that far along in the process…
My editor, Bethany Peat, and one of my writing partners, Cheri Dotterer (OTR/L, author of Handwriting Brain-Body Disconnect), shared some of the stories and rationale behind the writing of the book. Authors Grace Grose (Quantum Spacewalker series), Tayo Igbintade (Wonderfully Complex: Appreciating the uniquness of your autistic child), Rikki Milbrandt (A Perfectly Messy Life), and Aimee Fuhrman (Reclamation series) told through their video reviews how the book challenged their thinking about how the Christian faith should be lived out, and gave an interesting and thoughtful view into the mind of a nonverbal character, as well as being a suspenseful and entertaining read.
The audience also participated in sharing some of the stories behind the book throughout the event, by locating specific “fun facts” on their table tents to earn prizes.
A short Q&A and book signing followed the main presentation. I found out how much writing is too much during a book signing!
After the event, it took me a while to process how everything went: the prep, the frustrating tech issues, the staging and delivery, the audience questions and comments… I gained quite a bit of valuable experience and feedback. Thank you for rolling with it all, my esteemed guinea pig audience!
The party was great fun to put on, and it achieved its purpose and honored both Jesus and my grandma the way I had hoped. It was also encouraging to sell the entire pile of books I brought to the event (plus a few)!
Thank you to all who gave of your time and effort to make this book and this event a success!
The Frozen Has Launched!
