Book Signing Event

Hey, that's me! I wrote that book ....... well, Wall-E and I did. Yesterday was my very first book signing event. I sold 5 books in the two hours I was there.

Here I am all ready to go. I left he, who hates to be confined, in charge of the kampground office. It was a very quiet weekend and I made the trip to the Columbia Mall without incident.

Never ask your husband to take your picture .....

I wasn't sure what to expect. There was a sign on the front door of Barnes and Noble promoting the event. Not my book specifically, but that the month of September was deidcated to promoting local authors. My publisher met me there and we were set up with a table near the front and I greeted everyone I saw.

A man approached and asked about my book and I explained that it was written in the voice of a dog and was letters to his boy. He told me about his dog, Brutus. Seems that Brutus was an abandoned dog that he found in 1985. Already full grown, estimated to be about 4 years old, the dog lived until 2001. While I was busy doing the math, he waxed eloquent about the wonders of Brutus and began relating anecdotes about his beloved Brutus. On and on he went, my eyes were glazing over and though I tried to steer the conversation back to the selling of my book, he was having none of that.

After over 10 minutes of listening to him, my publisher slipped away (abandoned me, I thought!) and called me on my cell phone. I was trying to disengage myself from this man who was obviously not interested in purchasing my book or even allowing me to get a word in edgewise ....... and trust me, people, this is hard to do! He had moved on from Brutus to enlightening me to the values of shopping on-line and how he never buys books in book stores.

So, why was he there? I am not sure. He had engaged the author in the time slot right before me in a similar manner. Yolanda (publisher) was of the opinion that he was lonely and looking for someone to talk to. She wondered if he even knew how to read. I thought he may be homeless and simply hanging out in a place that was full of creature comforts. All I can say is that he needs a new dog! Been over 10 years since Brutus passed and he is still mourning ........ well, unless he made it up just to have something to talk about. I am wondering about a dog that lived to 20.

After I rid myself of the owner of Brutus, I put out some business cards for the kampground. Bookmarks, they will make great bookmarks. And, should happen my way and want to kamp ...... not to mention that Wall-E will do a meet and greet if you desire. He is actually very good at it. He enters the store and meets people, lets them pet him and goes back in the living quarters when told to.

I am just happy that I did not display my business cards until the man with the story of Brutus had left. If he showed up here, I could easily have a breakdown! I met and chatted with some wonderful people. The last book I sold was to a grandmother of an 8 year old boy, same as my Gavin. She teared up when I told her that I did not set out to write a book, that the letters were just a way to communicate with my grandson who couldn't keep a dog he loved. It was a great day.