Shari Mauer

My Book Launch Party (and what I would have said if I had made a speech)

Currently (still) reading: SOMEONE KNOWS MY NAME by Lawrence Hill (adult book club selection that’s excellent, but seems to be taking me a long time to read)

Elaine Berg and Julia Rivera (New York Organ Donor Network), Arlene Sandner (New City Library), me, Evelyn Fazio and Jennifer Burger (WestSide Books)

My book party was amazing. In the middle of it all, as I was signing books and gazing at the full room and the long line of people waiting to get their copies of Change of Heart signed, my son Eric leaned over to me and whispered, “Is it everything you hoped for?” It was!

My book club selling copies of Change of Heart

My only regret was that I didn’t speak publicly and address the crowd. Not that I thought they needed to hear any of what I had to say, but more because in my speech were a lot of thank yous. So, as my daughter suggested, I’m going to give my speech (or parts of it) here.

First of all, I want to thank everyone for coming tonight. I know it’s a weeknight in June, which gets pretty crazy, so I appreciate your taking the time to celebrate with me.

One thing I learned about writing is that while the actual act of writing can be very solitary, the act of publishing a book is not. Huge thanks go first, to my critique partners, Jill Arabas and Dawn Buthorn. They push me to make my writing better and my sessions with them always energize and inspire me.

My agent, Marlene Stringer, couldn’t be here today, but she’s been invaluable at guiding me through the crazy web of the publishing industry. She told me when she offered to represent me that she was tenacious and the fact that I’m standing here with a published book is proof of that.

I’m so excited that my editor, Evelyn Fazio and my assistant editor, Jennifer Burger are here celebrating with me. They took my little book and made it so much better. Thanks for believing in it.

It’s amazing to be celebrating here at the New City Library. I grew up at this library. From the time it was across the street from Burger King to when it moved here, I remember trolling the stacks, soaking in that book smell and reading as many books as I could get my hands on. And when I moved back here with my kids and my friend Linda and I wanted to have a Mother/Daughter book club for our girls, we went to librarian Arlene Sandner. Arlene took this idea and ran with it and this wonderful program has now been going strong for about 8 years. Arlene has also been a great resource to me, agreeing to read my books and giving me excellent feedback. Thanks, Arlene.

I’ve been very lucky to have a slew of readers who have put up with my endless requests to read and re-read my drafts. Thanks for that to Sula Bernstein, Andrea Singer, Ilene and Lauren Gerber, my nieces Brooke and Jaslyn Maurer, Zoe Temco, Lexi Studwell, Madi and Kit Collins, Rachel Greenberg and of course, my daughter Lissie. (okay, I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone).

One of the nicest surprises about the journey to publication is the writer friends I have met. By joining the Class of 2K10 and The Tenners, I have companions during my debut year. They know exactly what I’m going through and it’s great to have them around. And I have to give a shoutout to Verla Kay’s Blueboards. I’ve gleaned so much from the wisdom of my fellow writers there.

A big cheer for my book club–we’re celebrating 8 years and 96 books together this month. They’ve been so nice to step up and coordinate the book sales tonight. It was great not to have to worry about that. Thanks, too, to Julia Berger, my mom, Lorraine Berger and Linda Temco for the yummy cookies.

When you write, you often steal things from real life to put into your books. When I needed a really good dessert to get Emmi and her family off the roof (you’ll have to read the book!), I instantly thought of our friend Harry Falk’s Stars and Stripes cake. It’s a simple cake frosted with whipped cream and with strawberry stripes and blueberry stars, but we always enjoyed it. Unfortunately, shortly after I wrote that part, we lost Harry. How amazing is it that his cake is memorialized in the book?! Thanks to his step-daughter, my good friend Allison Jaynes, for making that cake tonight. It’s a perfect way to honor Harry and celebrate Change of Heart.

And of course, I have to thank my friends and family. Thanks for putting up with my endless worries and stories, thanks for all your cheerleading and support through all these years. Thanks for driving and feeding my kids when I wasn’t able to do it. And special thanks to Lissie, Josh and Eric for letting me steal some of their lives to give to Emmi and her brothers and for putting up with my sneaking off and writing.

And Mat, what can I say. Besides being my go-to guy on the medical front, you’ve been by my side whispering words of encouragement since we were 17 years old. Thanks.

Part of this night is to celebrate the release of Change of Heart and part of this is to bring awareness to the dire need of donated organs. We are very lucky to be joined by Julia Rivera and Elaine Berg of the New York Organ Donor Network. They’ve been wonderfully supportive–printing bookmarks (designed by my sister-in-law Amy Berger) and spreading the word about Change of Heart. Also, big thanks to our friend Kelvin Smith, a heart recipient himself, who has been working with us to spread the word. Hopefully soon we’ll be able to read Kelvin’s book about his experiences.

I want to urge everyone in this room to register to become an organ donor. May you never need it, but if you do, it’s a wonderful thing to be able to give the gift of life to up to 8 other people. If you don’t register tonight, you can go to the Donate Life website to learn more and to register.

Thanks, again, to everyone for coming and for indulging me in this long list of thank yous. Have a great night!

Thanks, too, to the New City Patch who wrote a beautiful article about the event, complete with pictures and video.

For more pics, you can go to my Shari Maurer Facebook page. Thanks to my dad, Stan Berger and Robert Lieberman for capturing the event.

Have a great week!