Peoria Adventure -- Part Two

So, Thursday was looking to be a busy day. I had a corporate outing in the afternoon, from which I needed to leave early to get to Peoria on time. Side note: The outing was a really cool visit to Color Me Mine, this shop where you can paint your own pottery. I painted a coffee mug and put the words "Write a sh*tty first draft" on it. Actually, my friend Karen painted them on there for me (thanks, Karen!) since I had to leave, but it's a quote from Anne Lamott's book, Bird by Bird, which has always been so helpful to me.

So, anyway, I left Color Me Mine a little late, was having too good of a time, but I made it to Corporate America in time to pick up Stacy G. We headed down Interstate 55 singing our little hearts out to "Once More with Feeling," the Buffy Musical Soundtrack (you have to love any musical that has the lyric "his penis got diseases from the Chumash tribe" or at least admire it for the ability to rhyme to that). Stacy G. had never been this far south in Illinois before so I pointed out the important things to notice along the way. Corn fields, bean fields, more cornfields, more bean fields, a really cool old one-room school house like on Little House on the Prairie, an old falling down farmhouse with one glass pane still in place, the five foot tall replica of a spine on the chiropractor's office in Roanoke, the invigorating aroma of cow poop... : )

We arrived in Peoria about 5:30, about an hour and fifteen minutes before we were due at Barnes and Noble. Stopped by my parents' house for a yummy meal of barbecued pork sandwiches (my mom knows how to cook!) and a bit of fun confusion when my mom or sister would start a sentence or question with "Stacy" or "Stacey." Spelled differently, sounds the same. So we landed on my family referring to me as "my Stacey," which was nice : ) After dinner, my mom took my sister to piano lessons, and Stacy and I got ready for the signing.

At this point, my nerves really kicked in. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, if everything would come together. I didn't know if I'd brought everything I would need and how the evening was going to work. With 20 plus authors in one Barnes and Noble, organization would have to be key. Would people buy the book from me? Would they buy the book from Barnes and Noble? Would they have to buy the book and double back to have me sign it or could I sign it for them and then they could check out? I'm a worrier by nature so all of these questions had my stomach a bit twisted up.

After some outfit angst, I decided to wear the Ann Taylor outfit that I bought when my brother and my brother's girlfriend went shopping with us a few weeks ago. I also had what Stacy G. calls my bohemian artist outfit, a ribbed black sweater and cuffed pants -- all I'm missing is the little black beret. But it was still pretty hot outside, so I went for the lighter weight outfit (after taking votes from my mom, sister and Stacy G., of course.)

We were on the road again, this time to the store, by about 6:35. I told Stacy that I was so nervous that I felt like throwing up. She pointed out that vomiting would probably be a big turn-off to any potential book buyers. I agreed and tried to calm down.

As soon as we pulled in, we noticed that the place really seemed to be jumping. Very full, though parking spaces were still available. Stacy G. helped me lug in a few boxes of books and materials.

Inside, immediately to the right of the door was a long table (actually a bunch of tables all pushed together) with all the authors, right around 20 of them. My spot was toward the far end. I set about pulling books, bookmarks and postcards out. Stacy G. searched out a chair for me. My palms were totally sweating by this point. The event organizer came by and asked me how many books I'd brought in. I had to crawl under to the table to count them all : ) It hadn't occurred to me to count them before coming in! We had 27 in the store and another box in the car. I, of course, also forgot my favorite signing pens in the car, but I had a pretty good one in my purse and I didn't feel like running back outside and Stacy G. was already doing plenty enough for me!

I have no idea when things officially started. There were people already browsing and buying while I was setting up. The authors to my left were twin girls who'd written a book of poetry. The older gentleman to my right, Corky, had written a book about his experiences hitchhiking in the 30's and 40's. Corky was really nice and talked with me occasionally throughout the night. He'd written the book so his children and grandchildren could read about his experiences. He was also working on a book about his naval experiences. He'd been to all 50 states and seven continents. I would have liked to hear him do a reading, but things weren't set up like that, unfortunately. He sold only two books that night, which was a bummer. But as he said, his goal wasn't selling them as much as it was having the stories on paper for future generations of his family. I should have bought one. I thought about it, but I wanted to wait until the end (I needed to pay with credit card and that would have involved leaving my seat at the table.) But by then, he had already turned in his total to the BN staff. I should have done it earlier. If I ever bump into him again, I'll definitely buy one right away : )

All kinds of people started coming in then to see me! People from my dad's church, teachers from my mom's school, even friends of my sister (who brought their parents with them because most of the kids can't drive just yet, so thank you to those moms and dads). I tried to make sure that everyone understood that you don't have to buy my book. Don't get me wrong, we want sales. But if you just stop by the store during the event to say hello, that's really all BN is interested in. Foot traffic, you know? Even still, we sold 21 books on Thursday evening!!!! And the Barnes and Noble kept one signed copy for their shelves : )

So, a huge thank you to everyone who came by!!! You made the night a big success for me and for all the other local authors. I think the Barnes and Noble staff was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people! I have to admit, now I'm a little worried about the Borders signing on October 10 in Peoria. So many people came to this one! : )

I think this blog entry is long enough...tomorrow, Peoria Adventure -- Part Three, my trip to the schools!!!

Talk to you tomorrow!