Tag Archive for Open Door Bookstore

Author Meets Reader: A Photo and a Thank You

Book store signings strike me as things of the past, except for the isolated few big names in our business who don’t seem to need the boost at all. Lives are busy, schedules conflict, and most of the public’s attention goes only to the best & the biggest who sit atop the cultural pyramid. Who seriously has time to be at a bookstore at 1:00 on a Saturday?

I mean to say: they can be depressing if you aren’t prepared for the inevitable disappointment. 

For punishment, I was forced to stare at a prominent, centrally-located, in-store display of the new children’s book by by literary lion Matthew McConaughey.

I mean to say: This is Gemma and she traveled a good distance to meet me at a bookstore in Schenectady. It’s not nothing. In fact, it’s a lot more than nothing.

She first encountered me on a Zoom thing that Scholastic created around Jigsaw Jones: The Case from Outer Space. She came hoping to buy more Jigsaw Jones titles — there are 14 currently available — but alas, there were none in the store. Sigh, oh sigh. Gemma rallied, however, and grabbed Exit 13: The Whispering Pines. She would not be denied and her mom, from what I could gather, was constitutionally unable to say “no” to a book. 

Thank you, Gemma!

Book Signing at the OPEN DOOR Bookstore in Schenectady, Saturday @ 1:00, November 21!

The flyer below gives you the facts.

Now for the honesty: Bookstore signings, for me, tend to be sad, dispiriting affairs. For the most part, nobody comes. I know I’m not the only author to experience this particular form of awfulness. Sitting there at the table, waiting, expectations low. I understand completely. Your lives are busy, the world has changed, it’s always at a bad time on the wrong day — and the fact is I’m just not that big of a deal (except for in my own mind, where I’m amazing!!!!).

Once in awhile, mostly as an act of good will & optimism — along with the gratefulness that comes with simply being invited — I say yes. And occasionally a scattered few do show up. A shy, young reader awkwardly arrives. We talk for a while. I sign a book, we take a photo, shake hands. And there for a few moments we achieve one good, pure thing in this shattered world of ours; it feels worthwhile, the coming together of a writer and a reader. True fact: I love to meet young readers. Book lovers. It gives me hope, makes me happy. Maybe it makes a small difference to somebody. At the very worst, I get to sit in a bookstore for an hour and a half. There are worse places to be.

See you there?

About these two books: THE FALL can be seen as a companion to BYSTANDER, deals with the fallout from cyberbullying, and is best suited for grades 6-up. SWAMP MONSTER is the 6th book in the “Scary Tales” Series, grades 2-5, and it’s simply a fast-paced, easy-to-read entertainment that even a reluctant reader can enjoy.

 

Open

Book Signing: Schenectady, October 24th

In the past, I have perhaps groused about book signings in these go-go days, when folks are busy and the notion of going to a bookstore to meet a real, live, and possibly clean-shaven author feels like an enormous undertaking. The flood of love that the big names receive can feel like a trickle of indifference for others.

Even so, I’m grateful for the support from bookstore owners, managers, staff — and wish to return that support in kind whenever possible — and I’m especially appreciative to anyone who shows up. To the point where I might even leap out of my chair to hug you around the knees. Which, admittedly, can get awkward.

I’ll be at the Open Door in Schedectady, New York, birthplace of Arnold Lobel, on October 24th, from 1:00 to 2:30. No, my hero Mr. Lobel was not born in a bookstore, it only feels that way when you read his great, great books.


Whoops

Sorry I haven’t posted this week. I have about a dozen different topics that are ready to go — ranging from drunk squirrels to adorable daughters — but I’m trying to get past a technical difficulty before I proceed.

In the meantime, just a reminder to my local readers, that’ll be at the Open Door Bookstore this Saturday from 1:00 – 2:30.

More, later. And my apologies for the lack of content.