If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well. If it is worth having, it is worth waiting for. If it is worth attaining, it is worth fighting for.

— Oscar Wilde

Over twelve years in the making, our bourbon anthology finally saw the light of day (publication) in June 2020. Just in time for a pandemic that shut down the world. 2021 brought better news – we were asked to participate in the 2021 Kentucky Book Festival!

It was, in effect, our release party, and it was fabulous. Fellow Scoundrels Lorena Peter and Karen Block came down to help. Our publishers, and fellow authors, Gwen Mayo and Sarah Glenn came up from Florida to participate. Mike Bradford, another anthology author, also showed up to help. It was gratifying to have the support of these folks and it was invigorating to have customers come up to the table to show their interest in the book.

Joseph Beth Bookseller was so pleased with our results they asked us back for a signing on December 18. Elaine and I made the trek down to Lexington in a driving rain (no pun intended). Fellow author Milton Toby, out of Georgetown, joined us for the signing. We had a good time, though the crowd was much smaller. We met some nice people, and I enjoyed meeting Milton in person.

To cap off a year of hard work – really, 3 years of hard work – compiling, editing, publishing, promoting – for the anthology, my brother and sister-in-law very graciously threw a soiree to celebrate ‘the launch’ of the anthology.

Held at the 800 Tower Apartments in downtown Louisville, with a spectacular view from the Penthouse lounge, a group of friends gathered in fellowship to laugh, drink, eat great food, and listen to a handful of Scoundrel authors and friends read excerpts from our stories. We even sold some books. It was grand.

Thank you again, Elaine, for persevering through years of preparation, long drives, endless phone calls, and countless emails from me.

Thank you, Patience, for agreeing to read from Shirley Jump’s Take the Fall, and Elaine Munsch’s The Long and the Shorter of It.

Thanks to Lorena Peter for reading from her article, The Spirits of Buffalo Trace.

Thanks to my sister, Whitney Vale, for reading from Heidi Saunders’ Backdoor Bourbon.

And I’ll take a brief bow for reading from my story, A Summer’s End.

It takes a lot of work to get a book written, edited, published, and marketed. Writing is just half the battle. Showing up – to get it to a publisher, get it promoted, get it in front of the public, that’s the other half of the battle. Some of us have the scars to prove it!

Let’s raise a glass of bourbon to welcome in the new year, hopefully a better, healthier year for all of us.