Life is a carousel, I am on the big white horse with the golden mane, the brass ring sailing around and around.Maria and I were joking as we sat at the special table set up for us at Battenkill books.Did you ever think when we got together that you would ever be signing 240 books in one afternoon? No, she said, never. We took another step towards the goal of selling a thousand copies of “Second Chance Dog: A Love Story” through the Battenkill Bookstore, my local bookstore.
A bit shipment of books came in from Random House today, the books were all signed and accounted for by 7 p.m., another big batch is coming tomorrow, Connie Brooks is very eager to ship them out quickly. This is not just my story, it is our story, it is the story of me, Maria and Frieda, so it is wonderful that she signs it too, and so telling that everybody wants her to sign t.
Connie has given her a box of colored pens and pencils, so she can do her artistic flourishes. If people call to buy the book while I am there, I ask to speak to them, and I spoke to a half-dozen people this afternoon, it is especially sweet to talk to them, Maria talked to them also. As always we are doing this together, it is a beautiful scene to be sitting at that table in this beautiful bookstore in upstate New York surrounded by piles of my books, Red sitting right alongside, Maria signing away with me,we recognize so many of the names – this one bought a scarf or a potholder, that one e-mails me often, this one posts on Facebook, it was an oddly intimate and connected kind of evening. Connie and Kate and Marilyn are well organized, they have a system – one pile for people who only want signatures, another for those who have specific and detailed inscription requests.
It is tiring, but good tiring, we will be back there in the afternoon tomorrow and perhaps throughout the weekend. I’ve signed more than 500 books already at Connie’s there are hundreds more ready to go out. My hand hurts, but it is wonderful to sign so many of my books, this is what the book tour is all about, a blending of the old and the new. This unconventional book tour has some traditional elements to it, people love the paper book and cling to it. And tomorrow, some special offerings for Facebook, I want to keep the momentum going.
In the meantime, we are heading for l,000 hardcover books sold at Battenkill, I am signing a lot of “Merry Christmas” inscriptions, you can buy the book on the store website or call 518 677-2515.
It is wonderful to be doing this with Maria (and Red and Frieda too), it is our story, from beginning to end, and we are proud and excited to be telling it.