CRACKED: The K.M. Walton Book Launch

I love book launch parties, and last night's party for K.M. Walton (at the Chester County Book & Music Company) was nothing short of spectacular.  I believe the entire state of Pennsylvania showed up, and then some.  I know there was love in the room.  You would have thought we were attending a basketball game, given all the whooping going on, the whistling and cheering. It takes a long time to write a book, a long time to publish it, and then there's that stretch of awful lonesome when you don't know who will care about what you've done, or if anyone will buy it.

If you don't stop to celebrate, then you've missed the best part of the deal.  With a CRACKED cake and cupcakes, with a buffet table and street teams, with signature hunters lined up for miles, and with that sunshine smile on her lovely face, K.M. Walton celebrated in style. 

And here we are—just a few of the thousands—celebrating with her.  You've got Kathye Fetsko Petrie, Ilene Wong, A.S. King, and yours truly in the mix.  You've also got one of the nicest gestures I've seen at a book launch party—a table celebrating the books of K.M. Walton's friends. 

Here's to a long life for CRACKED.  Happy First Book Week, Kate.