Earlier this fall, I had a wonderful trip to the Harlequin Distribution Center near Buffalo, New York. My 15-year-old son is a shutterbug and was my official photographer for the trip. Here I am before heading inside:
In addition to the call center and the book printing functions, the Harlequin Distribution Center boxes and ships SO MANY BOOKS! The massive building smelled like new books--which probably accounted for my euphoria and far too much babbling during the luncheon. Seriously, look at all these beautiful books!
One of my favorite aspects of the trip was meeting the lovely people who work there. My fantastic editor Dana Grimaldi helped set up my visit, and I loved meeting Heather Allen and Rossana Cappuccitti from the Toronto office. It was especially fun for me to take my family along for the tour and visit. I allowed my teenaged sons to miss a day of school because I wanted them to share in the delight that being part of Harlequin brings me. My husband and sons were fascinated by the automation of the factory!
Just for fun, we went to Niagara Falls for the weekend following our tour of the Harlequin Distribution Center. It's only a short drive away, and it's always beautiful. As you can see, it was a little chilly the day my son took this picture of my husband and me. We just celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary last week, and he's still my favorite romantic hero.
I had heard of the magical place where books are printed, boxed, and shipped, but it was even more amazing than I had expected. The call center for Harlequin is inside this location, and that's where you'll hear the friendly voices of customer service representatives when you call about your subscription service or to ask a question about Harlequin's many series lines. I was fortunate enough to meet dozens of the people who work in this facility, and it made me almost as excited as the first time I got the call from a Harlequin editor. Their professionalism, dedication, and enthusiasm for Harlequin is truly wonderful.
As a double bonus, the day I visited was the day they were printing books from the Harlequin Heartwarming line. Back in July, I danced with Rula Sinara and Catherine Lanigan at the Harlequin party during the Romance Writers of America convention in Orlando. I was thrilled to see books being printed that were written by such lovely ladies--and great dancers!
Rolling off the line--check out these December releases: Every Serengeti Sunrise and His Baby Dilemma.
Just for fun, we went to Niagara Falls for the weekend following our tour of the Harlequin Distribution Center. It's only a short drive away, and it's always beautiful. As you can see, it was a little chilly the day my son took this picture of my husband and me. We just celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary last week, and he's still my favorite romantic hero.
Amie! Thanks for sharing such a cool experience and photos! Seeing Catherine and my Dec books actually coming out on the rollers has me giddy. I can't thank you enough for taking those pics so that we could get a behind-the-scenes look :)! And all those boxes and stacks...and the scent of books as you described...wow. Too cool.
ReplyDeleteAnd Happy Anniversary! Love that pic your son took.
Happy Holidays too!
Thanks, Rula! It was so wonderful to meet the people there who work hard to print and distribute our books.
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays to you, too!
What a cool trip, Amie! And wonderful photographs, thanks to your son. Years ago I had the thrill of touring Harlequin headquarters in Toronto and after reading your post, wish I’d asked to take my family. A great memory for you.
ReplyDeleteGreat trip!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous experience! We need a HW authors’ road trip. Happy Holidays and Happy Anniversary.
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary, Amie. Good idea for a trip!
ReplyDeleteDid I hear Heartwarming ROAD TRIP??? I'm imagining a charter bus filled with all of us...how fantastic!
ReplyDeleteOH my goodness! Actually seeing brand new books coming off the presses would be so amazing! And I'm always down for a good road trip!!!!
ReplyDeleteHow fun, Amie! It's always so interesting to see things from a different angle. Such neat photos of Rula and Catherine's books. And I love that you took your family along.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great experience. Love the photos. Happy anniversary. We should all meet in Toronto at Harlequin some day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insight, Amie. What majestic stacks and shelves and machines! And to think it all starts by all of us authors pecking away at our brains and computers. Do your sons know that girls are impressed with boys whose mothers are romance authors? *wink*
ReplyDeleteI'm going to Buffalo for Christmas. I grew up in Buffalo and while one of my nephews works at the distribution center, I have never been there. Maybe I'll get the chance soon.
ReplyDeleteOh, what fun. A new destination for my bucket list! Thanks for sharing your experience.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your trip with us, Amie. How great it must be to work there, surrounded by all of those wonderful books.
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary!
It’s my dream to visit the Harlequin Distribution Center. As I’m reading your post I’m yelling to my husband and asking him how far it is from our house to Toronto, LOL. It’s so exciting to see Rula’s and Catherine’s books on those rollers. I loved His Baby Dilemma, and I just started Every Serengeti Sunrise today. And I love your series too, Amie Denman. It’s one of my favorites. ( :
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