Remember my idea to leave my books in places as gifts for whomever picks them up – sort of “Flat Stanley” meets “Abandoned Art” meets giveaways?
Well I just spent ten days at my favorite place on the planet – Estes Park, Colorado. And, since Blue Violet and parts of the rest of the Svatura series are set in that location, I decided it would be fun to leave gift copies of Blue Violet in many of the places mentioned in the books, as well as some of my own favorite spots. If it wasn’t a good place for a Traveling Gift drop, but was in Blue Violet, I at least took a picture.
What was funny, is that it’s actually a little tricky leaving something in a spot that’s got good foot traffic so that it will be spotted, but also has a few slower moments with no one around to say “Excuse me, ma’am? Is this yours?” But I managed it like a first-class spy. Also, I did check back on each book after 30 minutes or so, and they were always picked up.
Here are all the pictures. I’ll post them separately to Facebook too. See if any of these locations look like how you pictured them in the books!
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No traveling gift book left.
Where Griffin interrupted Ellie’s pizza dinner with Lila, Adelaide, Nate, and Alex after the library.
Traveling gift book left on a bench along the river walk nearby.
This water wheel is at the end of the main strip of shops in downtown Estes.
Traveling gift book left on a bench nearby.
No traveling gift book left.
Coffee shop where Alex bumps into Ellie and they agree to start running together.
Traveling gift book left on a comfy chair (after a cup of coffee first!).
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| Walking from the lake running trail parking over to the coffee shop. |
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| View from the coffee shop back down the path toward the lake running trail. |
Book drop on a comfy couch in the key room.
The walking paths around Lake Estes where Ellie/Alex would meet to run. I used to run here until I started my MBA and stopped running (sigh). Time to get started again I think. No traveling book left.
No traveling gift book left.
Traveling gift book dropped in one of the casual areas inside (after a lovely meal!).
Right behind the main section of shops is a gorgeous common area with the river running through it and lots of fountains and little bridges.
Traveling gift book left beside stairs in the area.
Estes Park is located right at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. When we visit we do lots of hikes, drives, picnics, etc.
No traveling gift book left.
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| Bear Lake |
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| Sprague Lake |
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| Morain Park |
Have you considered talking to the library and MacDonald bookshop about carrying your book specifically because it's set in Estes Park? I think it'd be worth pursuing…
I talked to a very nice lady at the bookshop. She mentioned they have 1-2 authors a day in there with a similar question because they too set their book in Estes Park. Lol. I need to get a bigger name to make the distribution channel work for them.
I will have to try the library though. If they now do ebooks, mine are free for libraries. 🙂
Great suggestion!