|
Welcome to the Twilight premiere party!
Live jazz and the excited buzz of the crowd greet you
at the frosted double doors to the body-to-body ballroom of the
Atheneum Hotel in Detroit's Greektown. Early evening sunshine shines
through the windows, casting a golden glow over the two-story
ballroom.
Inhale the sweet scent wafting from a nearby table
displaying my birthday cakes - decorated with the cover artwork from
Twilight, as well as pictures of myself and Billy Dee Williams.
Make your way through the hundreds of friends and
family chatting at the long buffet table piled high with crab claws,
shrimp, smoked salmon, cheeses, fruit and veggies, all arranged around
sparkling ice sculptures.
Check out the river of people flowing the length of the
ballroom, everyone clutching a copy of Twilight, making their
way to the front where...
Billy Dee and I are on stage, autographing and personalizing every
book. After a TV interview for Fox 2 News, Billy and I autograph more
than 600 copies of Twilight over the next four hours!
All the while, silvery light captures special moments,
as our nearest and dearest pose for pictures and Detroit photographer
Monica Morgan chronicles the phenomenal evening. Making sure all is
running smoothly is my mother, 36th District Court Chief Judge Marylin
Atkins. Notice how she's beaming with pride, loving this celebration
of all the grueling hard work she watched me pour into the pages of
Twilight over the past two years.
Her help, her words of encouragement, her example of a
strong mother, wife and professional reaching for the stars and
getting there, inspire faith in myself to achieve any dream that I
conceive and believe.
My sister Catherine, a writer and newlywed who flew in
from the West to help other close friends keep the booksigning
organized, is among many family members who shared the enchantment of
this awesome birthday bash.
Now, join the cheers as Fox 2 Anchor Extraordinaire
Huel Perkins introduces me, and I thank everyone for supporting the
stories that bubble up from my heart and soul, starting with White
Chocolate and Dark Secret.
Next, explode in applause as our beloved icon of
romance Billy Dee takes the mike and celebrate this story of forbidden
love in an exotic locale.
We are humbled and honored by the outpouring of love
and support - and hungry! So we head over to the urban chic Sweet
Georgia Brown's for fried lobster and barbecued salmon, and toast the
success of the evening of Thursday, July 11th, 2002.
Then, after a few hours of sleep, we embark on a flurry
of media interviews and booksignings. After an hour with Mason on hip
KISS-FM radio, we do the Fox 2 Morning Show with Alan Lee, the local
affiliates for NBC and ABC, including a Sunday morning talk show with
Chuck Stokes. Pictures from the book party land in the Michigan
Chronicle and The Detroit News.
After this, we're off to Chicago for more media and
booksignings.
Now we are channeling the encouragement, excellent
reviews and our own passion for the themes in our book into the goal
of Twilight: The Movie. Imagine: a gala movie premiere, an
evening of Hollywood in Motown, at Detroit's Fox Theatre!
We conceived it, we believed it, and we are going to
achieve it. Hope to see you there...
|
