I must admit I'm much calmer today than I was yesterday because I've got the first reading under my belt. But now that it's over I'll confess, I was nervous.

While IN FIDELITY is my second novel, this is my first book tour. Up till now all the interaction I've had with my readers has been online, where I've done cyberbook parties, attended chats, and hosted message boards all in the hope of introducing my book to my potential audience.

But, finally, I was getting out of cyberspace and going to meet people face to face for the first time. And therein lied the reason for last night's nerves --- speaking in front of people is a whole lot different from chatting online.

So I was apprehensive to say the least. Why? Well, I was worried about a few things...

What if I stumbled over the words as I read them?

What if everyone got bored?

Worse yet, what if no one came to the reading?

These are not uncommon fears among writers because, in fact, all these things can happen.

The first two are not very problematic.

Once you stumble over words, you move on. And if your audience starts coughing or rustling papers, indicating they are bored, you can just cut the reading short.

But if no one comes there is no way to salvage the reading.

Other than my nerves, several things were going wrong last night. First of all, it was freezing in LA. With a temperature of only 44 degrees, I couldn't imagine anyone would actually venture out to come to hear me read.

And then, even though I had given myself plenty of time to get from the hotel to the bookstore, I got stuck in traffic.

A ride that should only take 15 minutes took an hour.

The reading was scheduled for 7 PM. I arrived at 6:58 and rushed to take my place at the table that had been set up in the front of Dutton's.

And then, surrounded by tables of books and the shelves of books rising to the very ceiling of this venerable bookstore, I read from the first chapter of IN FIDELITY.

I didn't stumble.

No one rustled papers or coughed.

And much to my surprise, over 40 people had gathered to listen --- over half of whom I knew from the Internet. And during the Q&A after the reading, for the first time, I got to put voices and faces to e-mail addresses.

And that's probably what was the most fun --- getting to talk to people who've read my books and, more than that, came out on a chilly night in LA to give me a really warm reception.

Please check out my website www.mjrose.com --- under events you can see my upcoming tour dates. And if you live nearby, please do come to my next reading because I'd love to meet you too.