Book Signing

February 5, 2009  – 7pm
Books-A-Million - Johnson City, TN

Jefferson Bass

To say I was excited when I picked up the flyer advertising co-authors, Jon Jefferson and Dr. Bass would be in town for a book signing…promoting the latest in their best selling Body Farm series, (entitled Bones of Betrayal)would be putting it mildly. All avid readers and booklovers will agree, a book signing is a real treat…but, when you live in an Upper East Tennessee city, that would barely be a blip on the map if it weren’t for Nascar Racing, attending a book signing within 150 miles of home is most definitely a Treat!  
The evenings activities were scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., I would be a few minutes late, but that was okay…better late than never, right?

A wonderfully short, fifteen minute drive and we were pulling into the parking lot…Now, for those of you who aren’t familiar with my history…it wasn’t all that long ago that I drove five hours (one way), to meet Donald McCaig, author of Rhett Butler’s People, the long awaited sequel to Gone With The Wind. (If anyone is interested, CLICK HERE, to see the pictures and read about my trip.) Okay, where am I? Oh yes, we found an empty space, parked the car and skeddadled into the bookstore. Jon Jefferson and Dr. Bass introduced themselves, giving a brief summary of their respective backgrounds and the basis for The Body Farm series. Finally it was our turn to ask questions – and as soon as the floor was opened to the audience, someone asked the question that swirls in my mind with each novel I read…”are the characters in the book based on real people?” The answer went something like this – each of the characters in the books are based in reality – most are a creative compilation of several people.

For those of you who have read the Body Farm novels, you will be familiar with Miss Georgia and for everyone else, maybe this will spark your curiosity - 
One of the audience members asked about the origin of the zany, over-the-top character, Miss Georgia. Jon Jefferson smiled and told us how this outlandish character got her name. A young woman’s high bid at a charity auction won her the right to name a character – and this woman wanted to honor her beloved Mother and have the character named after her Mom…Miss Georgia Youngblood. After reading the book, both Mother and Daughter were thrilled with the character. And Mom enjoyed telling her friends that the outrageous, African-American Transvestite was named after her!

After half-an-hour of revealing interesting tid bits of information, more than a few laughs and several more questions, everyone lined up to get autographs. It was nice to see the writers take a few minutes with each person…exchanging pleasantries, smiling for photos and signing every book placed on the table. I was in no hurry, so I ordered a latte’ and sat quietly with my husband, talking and waiting my turn at the signing table. Once my book was signed and I had a few more pictures for my scrapbook, we gathered our things and headed for home.

It was a nice evening – informative, entertaining and FUN! If you get a chance to attend a Jefferson-Bass signing I encourage you to go!

Happy Reading!
-RJ