First Book Signing Celebration: Brief Summary

Here is how the first book signing celebration for Refugee Was My Name unfolded on Saturday night, December 3, 2012, in the multipurpose room of Church For All, my home church:

1. Opening Remarks & Prayer: Darlene Blair, the organizer of the signing event, welcomed everyone, made few remarks, and asked Summer Wilson, the associate organizer, to pray.

2. Introduction: Darlene introduced me, and the audience applauded, every face, including mine, lit up with big, bright smiles of love, friendship, support.

3. About the Book: I said a few words about the book: I explained why I kept a diary/journal of my war and refugee experiences. I mentioned how my connection with Bruce Horst, owner of SearchWarp.com (now WryteStuff.com), triggered the path to publishing, when he offered to link me with Jean Purcell, owner of Opine Publishing, and to pay towards the cost of publishing. Finally, I touched on the kind of readers that will find my book helpful and meaningful; namely, those who are under immense pressure due to sudden bursts of suffering like shattered dreams, being/feeling stuck, intense questions about faith in a sovereign God, and painful separation from family and friends.

4. Excerpt: I chose one of three excerpts and read it. Presuming I was done with tears of the past, I began reading only to break down, continuing to read between sobs, and completing the reading in teary fashion. It was almost embarrassing, when I realized I couldn't wipe away my tears, because I forgot to take a handkerchief to the event. No one expected tears, because there was not a box of Kleenex around. There's grace for that!

5. Q&A: I opened the floor for questions from the audience. Several asked me about some specifics of my experiences, how I handled certain challenges, and so forth. I answered from the heart, particularly avoiding coming across as some kind of hero of faith; frankly those who read the book will find that I probably scored an F, if my faith were to be graded. The surprise is that, by God's favor, I still survived with such a poor performance.

6. Book Signing: Darlene took and shelved books that were pre-ordered by church members and already signed by me. I took my seat behind the elegantly prepared desk. Darlene handed me a very stylish pen befitting the occasion; she made it clear I was not allowed to use the cheap pen I got from Independence Bank. The signing of books began, along with exchange of smiles, handshakes, and hugs.

The room was set up with an African theme. Kente cloths decked and draped the tables. African art interspersed here and there. African music played melodiously in the background.

There was refreshment of food and drinks. I forgot to eat until the very end. The whole event took about 90 minutes, plus an additional 15 minutes or so to completely clean up.

In addition to members of my church family, few other special friends streamed in, and their presence really graced my heart and the occasion.

Now, I know what a book signing looks and feels like. As I told Darlene, "We're now experts in book signing!" At least we've got our feet wet.