Nov. 8 socially awkward/socially distanced blood drive and book launch at Fort Worth’s The Dock Bookshop will have blood and doughnuts
What’s an author/librarian to do when their debut novel about an eternally menopausal vampire comes out during a global pandemic? Host a socially awkward and socially distanced blood drive, of course. Critically-acclaimed author Pamela Skjolsvik will debut her newest book, Forever 51, Sunday, Nov. 8, from 1-5 p.m. at The Dock Bookshop located at 6637 Meadowbrook Dr. Fort Worth, TX 76112.
Carter Blood Care’s mobile unit will be parked in the lot of The Dock Bookshop. Carter Blood Care requests that donors sign up here in advance. Light snacks, vampire swag and prizes will be available for those who donate. Signed copies of “Forever 51” will be available to purchase for $16.95.
Skjolsvik has helped fellow debut novelists with the formation of her 2020 Quarantine Book Club on Facebook in March. To date, the group has 1,400 members. But, as we all know, vampires and virtual don’t mix. To be of service to her community and to appease the non-reflectors, Skjolsvik’s own book launch will be up close and rather personal. She promises to make an appearance in exchange for a pint of your blood.
“Forever 51” Summary: Veronica is eternally 51 years old with a proclivity for problematic drinking. Like most hormonally-challenged women negotiating the change of life, she is a hot mess. To retain her sanity, she attends weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and adheres to a strict diet of organic, locally-sourced, (mostly) cruelty-free human blood from the hospice facility where she works. Her life stopped being fun about a hundred years ago, right about the time her teenage daughter stole her soul and took off for California with a hot, older guy. These days, Veronica’s existence is just that – an existence, as flat and empty as her own non-reflection in the bathroom mirror.
When her estranged daughter contacts her via Facebook, Veronica learns that she has one chance to escape her eternal personal summer: she must find and apologize to every person she turned into a vampire in the last century. That is, if they’re still out there. With raging hormones and a ticking clock, Veronica embarks on a last-ditch road trip to regain her mortality, reclaim her humanity and ultimately, die on her own terms.
The Kirkus Reviews said, “In this darkly comic novel … complex characters propel this diverting vampire tale.”
New York Times bestselling-author of “The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires,” Grady Hendrix, stated, “‘Forever 51’ takes vampire fiction into terrifying new territory: middle age. A very funny, very bloody book about growing older and getting dead.”
Skjolsvik’s first book, “Death Becomes Us,” was featured on NPR’s “Think.” Her work has appeared in “Creative Nonfiction,” “Writer’s Digest,” “Witness,” “Ten Spurs,” The Dallas Morning News Death Penalty blog and in the book “Silence Kills: Speaking Out and Saving Lives,” published by Southern Methodist University.
Additionally, the Fort Worth Public Library will have a virtual book launch for “Forever 51” Saturday, Nov. 7, at 4 p.m.
More information on Skjolsvik can be found at http://www.pamelaskjolsvik.com/ and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamelaskjolsvikauthor; Twitter: https://twitter.com/pamelaskjolsvik.
