Thursday Tea Party: Joyful Recap on East Coast Tour & Upcoming Tucson Festival of Books

Oh, dear blog friends, I have been so remise in my posts! I hope you forgive me and know that it was for good purpose. I pulled on my cowgirl boots, took myself offline, and onto the road to meet wonderful readers, bookstore owners, reviewers, and book bloggers live and in person. It was an extraordinary 15-day adventure to the East Coast, and I can honestly say that every stop was monumental and gave me so many cherished memories. So thank you to my lovely bookstore hosts and all the many readers who came out to the events! Meeting you and hearing how much you are loving The Baker’s Daughter meant more than I’ll ever be able to say.

If you weren’t in one of my tour stop cities (which is a greater portion of the United States!), you can follow along via my Facebook photo album. I posted pictures from every event. Click on over and see all the fun we had including the cake that The Baker’s Daughter gave the blue ribbon for being a pastry phenom! (Note: It was Bavarian cream-filled to boot!)

I was on the road from February 16-29, and while I flew back to El Paso by the first of March, The Baker’s Daughter tour is just beginning. I’m off to Tucson tomorrow to participate in this weekend’s annual Tucson Festival of Books. So many amazing writer friends will be there, and I’m giddy as a schoolgirl to see them. Saturday night, me and my gorgeous co-hosts, Jenna Blum, Kristina McMorris and Ruta Sepetys, are having a Skype party for the winning book club of our WWII-themed contest. Ahem… costumes will be donned. (Ja, fräuleins!)

For those in the Tucson area, I’d love to meet you Saturday and/or Sunday! I’ll be participating on three panels:

Saturday—
1 p.m.
Capturing a Sense of Place in Fiction Panel with Ilie Ruby and Naomi Benaron.
University of Arizona Campus, Student Union, Tucson Room

Sunday—
11:30 a.m.
Family Stories: What to Use, What to Lose Panel with Daniel Roth and Kristina McMorris.
University of Arizona Campus, Student Union, Catalina Room

2:30 p.m. Keeping Secrets, Telling Lies Panel with Randy Susan Meyers and Kristina McMorris. University of Arizona Campus, Student Union, Catalina Room

Here’s the quick reading roundup for THE BAKER’S DAUGHTER:

“… an engrossing, engaging, and moving exploration of love, family, obligation, and the terrible gray area we live in…This would make a great book club pick — so many facets to invite conversation and discussion — and it would make a good gift for someone who isn’t sure they like historical fiction.”
~Unabridged Chick


“The Baker’s Daughter is a multi-layered book with themes of war, immigration, and human cruelty.  It is also a story of full of love, food, compassion and survival. This is a book you will definitely want to savor. Gutenacht.”
~Book Snob


“What an emotional powerhouse! I love books that make me weep with sadness and feel such empathy to the characters. This book does that and so much more… Her story will stay with me. I have her tucked under my heart.”
~Life in the Thumb


“In Sarah McCoy’s fantastic novel, Elsie Schmidt and her family, the bakers of the title, are just these people and her portrayal of them takes the normal black and white morality and turns it into just about every permutation of grey possible… The book is well written and engaging and I found myself unable to put it down once I was fully invested in the story.”
~BookNAround


“The Baker’s Daughter is a triumph of the human heart… I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy historical fiction, women’s history, and those looking for critiques on families and love. I don’t think its possible for me to capture in this review how much I loved this book and how deeply it spoke to my heart.”
~Reading Lark


“Touching on family loyalty, mother-daughter bonds, father-daughter bonds, relationships of all kinds, plus the search for love and forgiveness, McCoy reaches deep inside the dough to knead the bonds of these women to help them grow outward and inward, allowing them to absorb more love and connections.”
~Savvy Verse and Wit


 In addition, I am reading during my travels.

The Reading:

I finished The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings last week and thoroughly enjoyed the story perspective of a sympathetic, loveable, albeit irreverent male protagonist. I highly recommend the novel and am so looking forward to seeing the movie with George Clooney (yummy) as soon as I have a couple hours not working or touring to devote.

Currently, I’m in the midst of Seré Prince Halverson’s Underside of Joy. Seré and I met on Facebook and quickly became friends. She is just as lovely and compassionate a person as her story. I’m savoring the read.

I have a stack of friend’s books waiting in the wings and months of planes, trains, and long car rides scheduled as I book tour now through the summer. Meaning: I’ll never be at a loss for good company.

The Tea:

For those who aren’t on Twitter, I’ll just mention briefly that I caught a horrendous flu on my return flight and have been battling to regain my health ever since. Not being one to schedule any time off, I’d pre-booked a number of radio show guest appearances during this week between my East Coast tour and Tucson. While I could hide my tissues and plagued appearance behind the phone line, this virus is a smart son-of-a and took my one ace in the hole: my voice. In a panic, I did a tweet shout-out and my lovely friends answered IN TEA. The amazing Julie Klam suggested I run to the grocery store and buy Yogi Throat Comfort tea. While my voice has yet to return, my throat is no longer blazing with pain and I have Julie and the tea to thank.

Here are the ingredients:
Licorice Root, Fennel Seed, Wild Cherry Bark, Cinnamon Bark, Orange Peel, Slippery, Elm Bark, Cardamom Seed, Ginger Root, Mullein Leaf, Clove Bud, and Black Pepper.

And here’s how Yogi describes it:

The perfect way to soothe an irritated throat is with a cup of our Throat Comfort® tea. In this gently effective all organic herbal formula, we combine slippery elm bark with mullein, favorites of Western herbalism prized for their usefulness in soothing minor throat irritation. We include wild cherry bark for its soothing effects and licorice root for comforting sweet flavor. Because Throat Comfort is naturally tasty, gentle and effective, both children and adults can enjoy it!

Sarah’s Sipping Summary:

I’m at the point in Seré’s story where Ella is thinking of opening an organic grocery store for picnickers. I can totally imagine this delicious and beneficial tea on the shelf of Capozzi’s Market.

Cheers to being back to our Thursday Tea parties. I missed you all!

Yours truly, Sarah