Raging Water Featured at Book Tea

Every year the Springville Community Club puts on a book tea. Different women choose a book they want to talk about and decorate a table to go along with the theme of the book. There is room for 8 women at each table and tickets sell for $20 apiece. Attendees are served tea (of course) and three courses: teeny tiny appetizers, teeny tiny sandwiches, and teeny tiny desserts. Though quite attractive and delicious, though there are several each go around, no one leaves too full.

This year my Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery, Raging Water, was featured at two of the tables. The reason was my friend who begged and begged me to put her in one of my books was featrued in Raging Water as the character Miqui Sherwood. Now I've had several contests where the winner's name gets to be used for a character in a book, but this was different. Miqui Sherwood had the very essence and personality of my friend. Everyone who read it said I nailed her perfectly--and she plays an important part.

So when she told me she was going to decorate two tables in honor of Raging Water of course I bought a ticket. (She'd done this once before for a previous Deputy Tempe Crabtree book where she dressed up like Tempe even to the point of wearing a black wig.)

Because Raging Water takes place right after Christmas, both tables were Christmas themed. In the books Miqui is known for wearing sweaters with the theme of whatever holiday is closest (and that is what she does in real life too), but since it was 107 degrees in Springville that afternoon, she wore a lightweight T-shirt with a Christmas design.

Here are the two tables:

As you can see each table had a Christmas tree, appropriate table cloth, Christmas china, and lots of decorations, including a copy of my book, and she also had a photograph of her two dogs who also had important parts in the story.

Each table hostess gave a brief summary of the particular book they'd chosen, and my friend did a great job telling all about Raging Water.

Despite the heat, I think everyone who came had a great time, I know I certainly did.

Marilyn