Book Happenings

On Thursday afternoon, I received a shipment of books. I unpacked the boxes, counted them, took pictures, etc. Contrary to suggestions I received from a surprising number of sources, I did NOT roll around in them or sleep with them. I left them in neat stacks on the dining room table, where they still were when I got up this morning.

Another pleasant surprise this morning was a very nice article about me in my local newspaper: Author finds inspiration for short stories in the Valley. The article had originally been scheduled for last Sunday and with each day that passed I figured it was not ever going to appear. But the timing couldn't have been better, given that my first book signing is tomorrow, and the placement on page 3 instead of page 1 hardly seems to matter. [The reporter did a very good job with the piece I thought, although she gave me a BA from Harvard instead of Northwestern (conflating undergrad and graduate degrees, I guess); as mistakes go, that's not bad.]

After a morning writing session that mostly consisted of not writing, I sat down to inscribe some books. I've got a lot to ship and I didn't want to do it all at once. I had some errands in town--a few people mentioned the article--and then did some more signing. Later in the afternoon I took a bunch of books to the post office and then stopped at both the stores in town that had already agreed to carry the book. I signed some books and left them with the owners of the stores. That was a good feeling.

And tomorrow is the big day when I face the public. I'm not doing a reading, but I'll be at The Sacred Circle bookstore for several hours and I already know of a number of people who plan to come in during that time to buy books. I've got my signing pen ready!