Novice Writer Trys to Sign

Coming Event: Talk and Read at Adrian Library Saturday, Noveber 21st, 2:00pm

On my way to Waldenbooks in Adrian, I stopped at the Clinton Inn to chat with Laurie and Mark, who are selling Family at Booknook. We talked about the Fall Festival. I complimented Mark on his delicate, cheesy broccoli soup that he made for the Festival. Mark told me that he makes five gallon vats of it continuously for the three days of the fair.

When the Inn is open, Laurie and Mark are there, and that is six days a week. When I asked how many hours they work, Laurie promptly replied, “Eighty hours a week.” That makes thirteen hours a day. They did vacation for a week this summer, their first in nineteen years.

Laurie had sold a book. I high-fived her. We celebrate the little things.

For a couple of hours on Saturday I hung out at Waldenbooks in the Adrian mall, a social destination on a Saturday afternoon. The book store is small, but with shelves from floor to ceiling it houses a wealth of good reading—best sellers, staff picks, local authors, and a display of discounted books. There was a steady stream of lookers and buyers. Manager Susan Bach is a reader, knows her patrons and what they like. She ordered nine Family at Booknook novels a couple of weeks ago, sold them and reordered. When I asked how she did this, she said, “I make recommendations based on the kind of book I think each person would like.”

Sitting at a table just outside the entrance to Waldenbooks was a bit daunting. If I was a favorite author, readers would have been excited to stop and chat. But I am unknown and was sitting at a table like one of those people selling windows or doors at the county fair, except that I had no prizes to give out and had not thought to bring a bowl of tootsie rolls. And unlike Susan Bach, her customers do not know me, nor do they trust my judgment.

Still, some people did stop and chat. A mother, with four stair-step children and two at home, agreed that she was a very busy woman. An older man, with a carved wooden cane, talked about his canes. A woman, who told me she had moved twenty-five times but that Adrian was her home, thanked me for writing a local book.

I’ve been told that an author should mingle and be approachable at a signing. So I took Family, held the cover in a way that it could be seen and wandered around the store, smiling and trying to be helpful. No luck! Then, Susan rescued me, introduced me to Lois Speed, a member of the Morenci Library Board. Lois purchased a book and I gave her one to take to the library. A woman from a book club in Onsted picked up a list of discussion questions. A lovely older woman purchased Family for a Christmas present. This all happened in about five minutes, and then it was three o’clock. Over.

From there I swung by the Adrian library and visited with Director Carol Shouchock about my talk on November 21st. Every time I’ve been to the library, evening or day, she has been there. She indicated that in two weeks the library renovations would be complete. And the space is lovely--warm carpeting, high ceilings, two lofts, natural lighting and lots and lots of books. Carol is another person who is always working. It seems that in order to be successful, one must keep at it. One step at a time.