by Audra Anders for The Aha! Connection
Several weeks ago Peggy and Lauren told me I “need to get out more”. They are right….so I agreed to host a big book club event and we started planning. Le Meridien agreed to be our venue and also offered an amazing door prize (a weekend getaway at the hotel) plus amazing food and drink specials. Peggy, Lauren and I added several of our “favorite things” to the door prize list. My mom suggested a fantastic book by a first time author, Lei Robinson. The book (Mill Village) is set in my home town of Opelika, Alabama. When I discovered Lei is also from Opelika, I started stalking her on Facebook for mutual friends to find a way to invite her to speak! She said yes! Then we started inviting women to come to our Meet the Author/Girls Night Out Event!
I lost count at around 50 women at last night’s event! It was so much fun to put several faces to names and to also see many old friends. Plus, my mom and my aunt joined us. Everyone unanimously agreed that we need to host another book club event within the next few weeks and several women have offered author/book suggestions!
If you haven’t read our featured book you should definitely do so! Mill Village mingles the stories of Chaz in 1992 and Annie and Gunter in 1943, taking the reader on a journey both to the past and to far off destinations in the present. Throughout his quest for truth, Chaz learns an important lesson about the preservation of history, family, and friendships.
Feel free to comment on this post with suggestions for upcoming book/author events….especially if you can connect us with the author! Please also follow Le Meridien on Facebook and watch for upcoming events at this beautiful hotel nestled right behind/between California Pizza Kitchen and Perimeter Mall!
Congrats to the following winners of last night’s door prizes:
- The Testaments by Margaret Atwood- Polly Frederick
- Where the Forest Meets the Stars (book) – Susan Osborne & Pamela Menefee
- Supermarket (book) – Amy Fletcher
- Keep Calm & Trust God (book) – Pam Koch & Lynn Deutsch & Tanya Goodroe
- Kitchen shears – Kathy Penn & June Hurston
- Scalp massager – Jennifer Harris & Blair Bick
- Tiny Spatula (Spatty)- April Toms & Laura Madden
- Burt’s Bees Lipstick – Andrea Hughes & Kristen Heneghan
- Tumblers from Opelika – Lori Willis & Peggy Browne
- Le Meridien Hotel Weekend Getaway – Neitcha Thomson
Enjoy the few photos in our photo gallery and stay tuned for details about our next event!!
Thank you so much for collaborating with us! It was great to have you and Lei visit our property and we hope to have you back again soon!