The 2 Ann(e)'s - Events at VHOB

We had 1 Ann and 1 Anne grace our bookstore at Village House of Books this past week. On Thursday night, Ann Gelder launched her 1st novel, Bigfoot and the Baby.  The partying began a little before 6 with food and wine on the patio.  Around 7, we all went in and listened to Ann tell us about her book and how she came to write it.  She even read a couple of passages.  After, we had Q&A, and Ann signed books.  Everybody had a good time.  Here are 3 pictures from the event.

And then Sunday afternoon, Anne Hillerman came by.  Anne's book, Spider Woman's Daughter, is her 1st novel (she's written 8 non-fiction books).  What makes this news a little more interesting is that it is a continuation of her father's series.  Tony Hillerman wrote 18 books in a series about the Southwest, and Anne's book is #19 in that series.

Anne not only told us how she came to write her book, but she also gave us the back story about her dad and his writing.  We've all heard of Tony Hillerman, and you will all be hearing about Anne too (if you haven't already).  Anne was in Sacramento Saturday collecting the Spur Award, which is given for Best First Mystery.  How cool is that?  Here are 3 pictures from Anne's event.

(Obviously Anne is telling us how big the fish was.)

SIDE NOTE:  Anne's sister-in-law and brother-in-law live in Los Gatos (for 45 years!).  It turns out that their younger son was in my son's class at Los Gatos High.  In fact, 2 weekends ago was their 20th high school reunion, and my son and their son actually spent a couple of minutes talking to each other, even though they didn't hang out together in high school.  AND, another couple that are friends with Anne's relatives, who also came to the event, have a daughter that went to Los Gatos High School in that same class and that was friends with my son!  Okay, it's not spookily coincidental...but it is a little bit.

SIDE SIDE NOTE(?):  The woman to the left of Ann Gelder in the 1st picture is Shelly King.  Her debut novel, The Moment of Everything, comes out in September.  Shelly will be the October VHOB Book Club author, and she is a writing partner of Ann's.