TAoD tour day 10
Maybe everyone in Seattle spends their days drinking coffee and reading books. It would explain a lot, not only about the number of coffeehouses and great bookstores, but also the general laid-back attitude of a city filled with people whose fantasy lives are well enough fulfilled that they don’e2’80’99t need to be ill-tempered. In any case, the people here love books. I signed stock and chatted with the booksellers in some great stores, especially Elliot Bay down in Pioneer Square, where escort Susan and I had lunch, and Twenty-Third Avenue books, which has one of the greatest layouts of any bookstore’e2’80’94a huge area filled with assorted tables and surrounded by a food hall, where kids come with homework after school and adults come any time, and the bookstore has cooking demonstrations. The ever-great folks at Seattle Mystery bookstore, who have kept Califia’e2’80’99s Daughters on their bestseller list for two years, arranged for a constant stream of people during my hour there, and then tonight, a full house at the University bookstore. This was probably the biggest event I’e2’80’99ve done on this tour, despite the end of the semester last week which, presumably, sent a fair number of the students home. But those who came managed to fill the place, came up with a lot of great questions, and even bought a bunch of books.
And people gave me presents, a necklace and a bottle of St Peter’e2’80’99s Ale, in answer to my blog the other day about needing a drink.
(And by the way, I do like kids, you know that, right? Just because I wanted to pick one up and shake it after a child-infested flight, doesn’e2’80’99t mean some of my best friends aren’e2’80’99t kids. Honest. Actually, it was probably the parents I wanted to pick up and shake’e2’80’a6)
Tomorrow a 6:15 pickup for a flight back to the Bay Area, and two busy days, with a pair of events Tuesday’e2’80’94Stacey’e2’80’99s in SF at midday and Cody’e2’80’99s in Berkeley in the evening’e2’80’94and a whole passel of drop-ins Wednesday, working up to an evening event at Book Passage in Corte Madera.
And thanks to everyone out there who has come to an event and told me they read the blog. Glad you’e2’80’99re having a good time. I sure am.
Thank YOU, Laurie for writing the blog and even more for the books. It was wonderful to meet you today.
PS, to everyone else out there–Laurie is beautiful in person…….pictures do her no justice! Bright blue eyes and skin to-die-for.
Ok, that’s enough gushing!
Kim
I attended the Seattle University Bookstore “event” last night.
A bit about myself: I’m 48 and recently made the agonizing decision to FINALLY allow my white hair to grow out and stop dying it. I’ve been fighting “reality” for the past 30 years. Welsh/Irish genes: what can you do?
I arrived at the University Bookstore reading at the last minute, located a seat and noticed a crowd that was 3/4’s “mid life faces with white hair”. I suddenly felt like an archetype: “LRK geeks: you’re ‘one of us’ now”…It completely blew my rehearsed line I’d hoped to blurt out when I met Laurie: “I’m your biggest fan and I even dyed my roots gray in tribute”. However, I was astonished by the younger folks who asked questions. They clearly knew your work. What a wonderful thing to bridge so many age groups. Good story telling is ageless.
Laurie, you “give good yarn” AND “you give good talk”! Thanks for coming to Seattle!
Drury
Earlier today I posted and the machinery gobbled in up. I wanted to tell Drury that the age of the sparkling eyes is what counts. Sparkly eyes keep you young.
Like 2maple’s comments on Day 9, my business depends heavily on referrals, but these things take their own sweet time. A patient arrived eight weeks ago who was given an enthusiastic referral to me over a year ago. Others come in minutes after having been referred. I truly have no rule of thumb for knowing when a referral will ripen.
But, I know this about Laurie’s books and the speed of this particular referral chain: In February, a friend suggested I read Beekeeper’s A., which I did within three weeks, and promptly began suggesting it to my pals who read. One read it two weeks ago and her boyfriend is now purchasing it for his niece; another read it last week and my guess is that more referrals will flow from there.