Last Friday night, I was in the central Alberta town of Sylvan Lake to attend a special event at the Sylvan Lake Municipal Library.

For the fourth time, the Library hosted the XOX Valentines—a ladies only event that is the library’s best-attended event of the year.

This is a night of pampering and luxury featuring displays and demonstrations of massage, makeup, soaps, teas, psychic readings and more. Coffee and treats were available, and with special event licensing, so was wine.

There were also six romance authors invited and I was one of them. Here we are. Katie O’Connor, Jean Oram, M.K. Stelmack, Suzanne Stengl, Brenda Sinclair and Ellen Jorgy.

For the event, the six of us put together this gift basket: a collection of our books (autographed) along with chocolates, body lotion, a scented candle, socks and more.
We arrived about 5 pm to set up and Moira had a sandwich tray ready for us. We arranged our tables, set out books, and decorated the room. Then there was time to tour the rest of the library displays until 7 pm when the event opened to the public.

Our Event

Our event was held in the program room at the back of the library—a soundproof room where we did author interviews and readings for about an hour. Ever creative, Moira combined the readings with audience participation. Each reading had “keywords” and when someone in the audience heard one, they raised their hand for a chance to win a book.

I did a short reading from THE THURSTON HEIRLOOM and chose the keywords: Teague, Shredder, hiking, Mariah and maid. It was the three-page scene where we meet Hazel Anderson, first-time hiker. Do you know the passage I’m referring to?

The event officially ended at 10 pm, but attendees were still wandering from one display to the next, sipping coffee and eating treats.

Many thanks to the organizers for a wonderful night!