February 23, 2008
The staff at the Layton, Utah Barnes & Noble really
outdid themselves. When I first arrived, I stood in front of the table and
thought, “Wow. This is for me.” Being treated as a celebrity, even a
minor one, is still a strange new world.
One of the things I enjoy about signings is interacting with
the really young people. Now of course this has nothing to do with my book –
it’s just fun to talk with them. Sometimes they stand with their parents or
come over by themselves. I heard a passing father call his 3-year-old son
“Parker.” So I took a couple of my bookmarks over to him, covered up my first
name and showed him his name on the card – explaining that his first name was
my last name. I’m not sure if he was more puzzled or mystified – definitely
curious.
The picture of the book cover always peaks their interest.
Another young man about 5 years of age came over and was going to pick up a
card until he realized I was sitting there. He stopped, stared at the cards then
asked, “Are these bookmarks?” I told him they where and that they were free so
he was welcome to take a few. He happily took a couple, looked at the picture
on the front then yelled, “Cool!” as he ran off. Yeah, I smiled.
One father explained to his young daughter that I was the
author of the book. I took one of the books and fanned through the pages while
explaining that I wrote the whole thing and that it took a really long time.
She garnered that priceless expression of astonishment.
Sometimes there will be lulls when I’ll take a moment to
peruse Time, Newsweek, and Road & Track, then all of the sudden a small
crowd appears. At one point 3 people got into a serious discussion about book
and movie standards in which I became more spectator than participant. The
young man in the middle had been asking questions about publishing, copyrights,
agents and such when one, then the other joined in from each side. It was
interesting. The young man was working earnestly on publishing a graphic novel.
I sincerely wish him the best in his endeavors.
Another interesting moment was when an older mom, and who I
believe was her daughter, commented that they were originally from the South
and owned signed copies of a few of John Grisham’s early works. They said that
when they met him, he was sitting at a table in a bookstore just like I was.
The comparison conjured up some very interesting, and somewhat surreal
thoughts. Everything really does start somewhere.
After finally closing up shop hours later than planned, but
before leaving the store, a few more people found me and I hung around a while
longer. Thank you very much to Barnes & Noble and to all who took the time
to stop by. I honestly enjoyed talking with you and sincerely appreciate your
support of the work.
Until next time…
--Ranse
