Guest Blogger---Traci Hunter Abramson

I am so thrilled to be able to introduce you to one of my favorite authors--Traci Hunter Abramson. Her new book is titled Freefall and it is well worth the read.

Like many authors, I live in a fictional world as often as not. A few weeks ago, my reality was strange enough that I was beginning to wonder if reality and fiction had somehow crossed paths.

At the end of March, I had the opportunity to visit Arizona for my sister’s wedding and to do a couple of book signings. I walked into the Seagull Books in Mesa and was completely shocked to find a couple of people waiting to meet me. My response was an incredulous, “You’re waiting to see me?” Sure, I had hoped people might be interested in my new book, but I never expected anyone to make a special trip to come to my signing. After all, I’m just a normal, everyday person.

Throughout the morning I was treated like royalty by the staff. I had the added bonus of meeting the incredibly talented Kerry Blair who was also there to sign books. I was having so much fun, I stayed longer than I had planned and barely allowed myself enough to time to make it to my next scheduled appearance.

My second signing was overwhelming in a different way. I walked into the Chandler Deseret Bookstore to find the front shelves completely dominated by my four books and a woman was standing next to the display holding a copy of my latest novel. A little further into the store there was a six-foot-tall poster of Freefall hanging behind the table where my signing would take place.

Again the staff was wonderful and I had a lot of fun meeting them and the people who came into the store. At one point, a woman approached the table and pointed to my first novel, Undercurrents, and said, “I just finished reading this. I loved it!” Talk about making my day…again!

After my two signings, I then went to my step-sister’s wedding and was surprised to have many long time family friends approach and ask me to tell them about my new book. Little did I know at the time that my step-dad had been reading Freefall to keep him distracted before the wedding and he had been raving to everyone about it. Now, I realize that parents are always a bit biased, but I’ll admit that it was great hearing how much he was enjoying my book. By the end of the day I had received so much attention my head was spinning.

You see, here in Virginia, I’m not well known as an author. In fact, a lot more people recognize me as a high school swim coach than as a writer so it’s difficult to know what to answer when someone asks me what I do for a living.

Try to imagine for a moment what it’s like to be in my shoes. (I wear sandals all of the time, so they’ll fit most of you.) My previous profession was working for the CIA. When I admit this, most people wonder if I’m telling the truth or just pulling their leg, especially when I get very far away from the nation’s capital. Then when it comes up in conversation that I’m a published author, they think I truly do live in a fictional world, but not necessarily a published version of one. Throw swim coach into the equation and people realize that I’m probably never going to grow up. Then we have the profession that lasts throughout the entire year: housewife. I probably shouldn’t admit that I’m really bad at this one, although if you want to see my “reasons not to clean list” they can be found here.

Knowing that my real life is nothing like the one I had lived on my sister’s wedding day, I did the only thing I could do. I brought home the huge poster from Deseret Book so my family would believe that I wasn’t living in my fictional world…again.