On Wednesday, February 7 we were honoured to be the booksellers at Nova Swoons. This meet-cute event held at The Carleton in Halifax was organized by the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia as a fundraiser for their many amazing programs including creative writing workshops, the residency program at Jampolis Cottage in Avonport, the Alistair MacLeod Mentorship Program, and Writers In the Schools.
The evening was filled with fun, flirty, and sexy readings, and hosted by local drag artist Anna Mona Pia. The event, which had more than 70 people in attendance, featured 8 Nova Scotian authors of romance fiction, from historical romance and rom-coms to the supernatural. Halifamous readers included NDP MLA Lisa Lachance, meteorologist Cindy Day, CBC’s Portia Clark, and the fabulous Anna Mona Pia who did several readings.
Featured authors included Donna Alward (The House on Blackberry Hill), Katerina Bakolias (Luscious Love), Renee Field (The Heart of the Family), Deanna Foster (Post Mortem Management), Cathryn Fox (Kilt Trip), Deborah Hale (The Bonny Bride), Michelle Helliwell (A Captivating Caper), and Nicole Northwood (The Devil You Know).
The format of the evening was as follows: Anna Mona Pia introduced a featured author, the author would then come up to the stage and set the scene for the selected read, and then the Halifamous reader came up and read the selection. In between authors, we played Romance Tropes Bingo, provided by the Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada. Anna Mona Pia pulled three tropes in between each set.
There were several Bingo winners including our very own Erin. She won an I Love Big Books Dbex tote, a Blind Date with a Book, made by the Writer’s Federation of Nova Scotia, and a notebook with a full-color front and back cover by a local Nova Scotia artist. Each of the many prizes were different. They also had several hefty door prizes that contained the authors’ books, swag, and goodies.
All and all, this was a very successful event and we hope that it happens again next year. The perfect mood setter for Valentine’s Day!
