Attendance was twice what they expected.  Book signings went non-stop on Friday evening and then all day on Saturday. At least 20 authors participated.

It was the first signing I did where I had several people come up to me having already read Gone Away. One gave me a sheet of paper. Typed upon it was her review.  She asked if I would read it before she posted it on the internet, namely Amazon and B&N.

The review read like this.  "Do not - - I repeat, do not judge this book until you have turned the last page. Then, I guarantee that you will sit back in your chair steeped in a profound stupor wondering how it is you let this amazing book slowly pull you in and not release you - and without even realizing it. The philosophical twists are so well embedded that the book creeps up on you, and when you are done you are smiling from so far down inside yourself that you will have trouble understanding just what it is you experienced.  I will read Gone Away again, this time with a keen eye for how and when Allen wrapped me up into a profound sense of spiritual reality.  Gone Away was a reading experience that I will never forget -- and neither will anyone who has the ability to enjoy the fantasy of a twelve year old boy for what it is, until it suddenly changes and you realize that Gone Away isn't at all what you thought it was. I don't know any other way to describe it. A wonderful book."

My sense of accomplish, after reading that person's write-up is indescribable, because I realized right then and there, that readers are beginning to get it.  To me, writing a novel is not an accomplishment until someone is inspired by it.  I felt wonderful.  And to top it off, two people who were listening in on the conversation each bought a book.

Thank you to all !!!

Jeffrey B. Allen