Adventures with Guns and Adventures at Costco

I haven't really been posting about myself lately, so I thought I'd take a minute to catch you up on some things. Yes, there have been adventures with guns, and adventures at Costco, but thankfully, there weren't any adventures with guns at Costco.

First off, at the end of June, the very amazing Nichole Giles set up a shooting activity for members of our critique group and then extended it to other author friends. We all met at the Orem Police Department shooting range and were taught the basics of shooting by Nichole's husband, Lieutenant Gary Giles. He was really awesome (and patient, which is what I badly needed).

Here we are in our cool Charlie's Angels poses:

And here I am, trying not to totally stink at this, but I think my technique needs some serious work. I somehow think one is not supposed to wince when one pulls the trigger, and one is definitely not supposed to squeal like a girl when the recoil hits. But considering I'd never even touched a gun before, I have to give myself some props.

And I got to hold a WWII sniper rifle with a bayonet on the end. This made me very happy. I don't know why, exactly - but it did.

Thanks, Nichole, for arranging all this! I now feel a lot more prepared to flesh out the book I'm currently writing, where my main character is a female FBI agent and a weapons expert.

Now, as you probably already know, I've been doing a lot of Costco signings lately. I mean, a lot. I'm rather becoming a fixture there. Here are some of the fun things:

Awesome person Amy Dahlke came to see me at Costco - thanks, Amy!

Here's my amazing stack at the Orem Costco store - exciting to have such a huge display, but a little intimidating to try to sell them all. (If any of you want to swing by and buy one, that would be helpful ...)

And some funnies that have happened in Costco as well:

* A little boy was doing donkey kicks as his family walked past my table. He got a little carried away and nearly caught a passing customer right in a very compromising place. Thankfully, that customer was able to shield himself with a bag of salad lettuce. Who knew lettuce could come so in handy?

* I told a customer the premise of my book: "My main characters are three little old ladies who infiltrate a nursing home to solve a murder." His reply? "Nursing homes are terrible places. I can totally see a murder taking place in one."

And ... the #1 thing I overhear people saying on their cell phones as they walk past? "Where are you? I'm over here in the book section. What? What are you doing clear over there? Well, come find me. No, I'm not coming to you - you come to me."

I'm sure there will be many more adventures yet to come ...