My Favorite Fan Moments
By Elizabeth pantley

One of the unexpected joys of being an author is finding a fan out there in the world randomly. Not at a conference or a lecture, but when you’re living your everyday life and stumble upon a reader. There are three such moments that I’ll always remember.

Starbucks and Starstruck

My mom and I had just been shopping and stopped off at a Starbucks on the way home. We ordered our drinks and the server put the receipt in front of me. I signed my name and she gasped. “Are you the real Elizabeth Pantley? The author?”

“Yep, that’s me.”

She let out an actual squeal and grabbed my hand. “I love you!” she gushed, as the people around us chuckled and I blushed. She babbled about how much she loved my work. I ran out to my car where I always keep a few books in the trunk. I brought in a book, signed it to her and left her clutching it in a hug. I still smile thinking of her.

Yes, Officer. It really is me.

We were at my son’s baseball game when an officer approached the stands. I was sitting in the front row near the middle, when she walked up to the woman seated at the end.

“I found a wallet in the parking lot,” she said. “I thought it might belong to one of the parents here.”

The officer opened the wallet to look for identification. “It belongs to Robert Pantley,” she said.

“Yep! It’s the coach,” said the parent. “But his wife is right there.” She looked over and called to me, “Elizabeth!”

I walked over and the officer looked me in the eye with an intense stare. “You’re Elizabeth Pantley, the author! Your sleep book saved my life when my baby was a newborn and I was a sleep-deprived zombie, and I still follow your blog. I’m so excited to meet you! Thanks for everything you do.”

The officer sat in the stands with me for a while. We watched my son play ball and had a great time talking about our families.

All the Way in New Zealand!

My neighbors just returned home from a trip to New Zealand to see family.

“You’re not going to believe what happened on our trip!” they said.

I was ready to hear a story of their traveling adventure. Instead, I heard something very different.

“We went to our cousin’s house, and there on her coffee table was your book!”

“You’re kidding! All the way in New Zealand?”

“It was right there! We told her you were our neighbor, but she didn’t believe us! Finally, I think she did, but can you sign a book for her? We’ll send it with the package we’re shipping to her. She’ll be so happy!”

So, there it went. A signed book to my new friend across the pond!

What avid reader hasn’t dreamed of actually visiting the people and places in the books they read? I often end my reviews with a jaunty “this is a town (or people) I would like to visit again.” Of course, I mean a new book in the series, another story about the same characters, but what if… readers could really become a part of the stories they are reading as they read them?

This is the premise behind Elizabeth Pantley’s new cozy series, ‘The Magical Mystery Book Club,” beginning with Shifting and Shenanigans. For an author who honed her chops in nonfiction parenting books, she has a real flair for imagination at its best.

Paige and Glo inherit a B&B from their grandmother and take off on the adventure of trying to run an inn. Little did they know they would find inside it a secret library and a stuffy talking cat named Frank. Prompted to continue their grandmother’s tradition of a weekly book club, the two women find themselves surrounded by a cast of disparate quirky characters who seem to have little in common except the love of the written word. When a misstep with the group’s first club read sends the group (and the inn) into the story they find they must solve the mystery to go home, searching out the rules of the magic along the way. What would happen if a reader loved the story so much they didn’t want to leave? So many fun questions.

The adventure is delightful, both solving the murder and getting to know the club. The mystery moves along at a steady pace and the book world is peopled by fun vibrant souls who go out of their way to make solving the crime as difficult as possible while dropping the important clues. (That is what they are there for, right?). Add in the individual personalities of the book club members and it is one page turned quickly after another to get to the end. The concept is nothing short of brilliant, though that isn’t shocking coming from the author who created the Destiny Falls local library.

I am already chapters into the next book. Oh to be on this adventure myself…

I received an advance review copy for free through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

About The Book

Shifting and Shenanigans: The Magical Mystery Book Club Book 1

Paige and her adventurous Aunt Glo inherit a country inn from eccentric GeeGee. They pack up and hit the road, arriving at the charming place they both loved since childhood. Finally! They can get into the secret room in the basement that GeeGee kept locked! They discover it’s a wonderful library filled to the brim with mystery books. But more than the room was a secret – it’s a magical place that houses enchanted books. Paige and Glo find themselves smack-dab in the middle of a murder mystery, along with a motley group of book club friends. The club will need to work together to solve the case in order to get out of the book and back to their home.

Purchase Link – Amazon

About the Author

Elizabeth Pantley says that writing the Destiny Falls Mystery and Magic book series is the most fun she’s ever had at work. Fans of the series say her joy is evident through the stories she tells. Elizabeth is also the internationally bestselling author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution and twelve other books for parents. Her books have been published in over twenty languages. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, the beautiful inspiration for the enchanted Destiny Falls world.

Author Links

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/24811.Elizabeth_Pantley
Website:  https://www.nocrysolution.com/books/
Newsletter Sign-up: https://www.nocrysolution.com/mailing-list/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DestinyFallsMysteryandMagic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethpantley/
Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/nocrysolution/_saved/
Blog:  https://elizabethpantley.com/