Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Conquering the YA world one small step (and audience turnout) at a time....


Tonight I did my first-ever reading/signing. Well, my first solo reading. You know, the kind where they have a big poster with my author photo and a picture of the book and it says "Appearing Tonight Only" or whatever it is they say. Anyway, it was at the Barnes & Noble at Carle Place on Long Island which meant I got to to take my maiden voyage on the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) which was beyond exciting. What was even more exciting was the fact that when I got off the train in Garden City, there was nary a cab to found which meant that I got to walk the streets looking for one which would have been lovely if it had been, say, a sunny afternoon rather than, say, a dark rainy night. That being said, downtown Garden City seemed very charming. To make a long story short, I got a cab and got to my 7:00pm reading at 6:55.

The crowd consisted of Stephanie and her parents (Stephanie, send me that picture of us so I can post it here on my blog); Sarah and her dad (Happy 14th birthday, Sarah!!!) and a nice man named Andy who has a daughter who's also 14, and whose name is also Sarah, but she wasn't there. And Kristen, the Community Relations director of the Carle Place B&N. And another guy, but he wasn't there for the reading. He was just flipping through Elle Decor.

Not a huge turnout, I know. Kristen said maybe it had to do with the rain. I think maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm not Stephenie Meyer.

But, still, there was a turnout. And they were all lovely people and even if no one had showed up other than Kristen because she has to because it's, you know, her job to be there, I would've been beyond excited.

That being said, pleasepleaseplease check the News section of my website and come to one of my signings. I'll tell you this much--because there isn't exactly a crowd snaking around the side of the building waiting for for me to sign their copies of CE, I have the time to not only sign your copy, but write an epic inscription.

Now moving on to the photo.

I know most authors would probably have someone take a photo of them reading. Or signing. Or, if -- like me -- they're shy and hate the idea of asking anyone to do anything for them lest they then feel indebted to them for life, they'd at least take a picture of the outside of the bookstore.

Yeah, well, I decided to bypass those three and instead grace you with something far more exciting -- the interior of the waiting area of the Garden City train station. A rather pathetic memento of such a momentous occasion, I know, but a) it was late; b) I was tired because O'Neill The Cat had decided to wake me up at 5am YET AGAIN and I was crashing from the chocolate chip cookie I had gotten at the B&N cafe while waiting for the cab to take me back to the train station, and so rather than come home without any pictures, I took this one.

For good reason. Have you ever seen a waiting area with a faux fireplace? Pretty snazzy.

3 comments:

BookChic said...

Aw, great to hear your first reading went pretty well. And at least you got an audience, even if it was small.

Also, when I first saw the photo, I thought that was where you'd done your reading. I was thinking "That doesn't look like any B&N I've been in." lol

*hugs* Can't wait to hear about more of your exciting travels and signings!

Book Chic

Anonymous said...

but hey, you had two girls who came JUST TO SEE YOU! That's pretty impressive on it's own. And I bet they were thrilled to meet you!

Barrie said...

Congrats on your first ever book signing! (They scare me to death.) And, of course, congrats on having your first book on the shelf!