michaeljasper.net
I thought I'd take this opportunity to write a little bit about the various readings and booksignings I've been to as a result of the "Writers of the Future" publication. As a newbie author, I figured I'd share these experiences; most of them are pretty funny.
READINGS AND SIGNINGS, 2000-2001
My first public appearances as a published author...
January 28, 2001
Cary's Borders
This was it -- the final reading/signing extravaganza to promote my story's publication in the Writers of the Future anthology. Sigh. It will be hard to let them go... Uh, yeah, right. These readings were getting a little silly. Sure, it's one thing to sell some books, and I made some connections here and there, especially from the discussion with the other writers at Quail Ridge Books, but enough is enough. Dan and I had a table set up right by the door, and sold one whole book to someone who's actually a SF reader! I wonder how many of them there are out there. After an hour, we left. It's a little embarassing. It'd be different if it were my book, but it's just a story in an antho. Yeah, it's a big deal, but I've got a life I'd like to get on with, instead of wasting a couple hours sitting around a chain bookstore... So that's it for that. Whew.
mjj
January 13, 2001
Raleigh's B. Dalton, Crabtree Valley Mall
So Dan and I had a little table in the B. Dalton bookstore at the mall. You know, those stores that sell tons of paperbacks and nothing really nice except for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Calendars (not that I noticed them or nothing!). Dan said that B.Dalton's policy is to let whoever wants to do a signing at their story do one, but they don't promote it or do anything beyond buy a box of books and give us a table and chairs. Crazy. These signings are embarrassing. We sat there for an hour, actually sold 2 books (one to a lady Dan knew, and another to a woman whose husband reads SF), and chatted about the upcoming Philcon and our various writing projects. Elizabeth went shopping with Clarke, while Jennifer, Dan's wife, popped in now and then to talk shop with us. So it wasn't a total bust, and we may end up getting a new desk and chair out of the deal (long story!). But I won't be sad to be done in 2 weeks. It's gotten a bit silly.
mjj
January 6, 2001
North Raleigh's Borders Book Store
This reading was a bit of a bust. Um. Nobody showed up. So I had a latte at Borders, chatted with Dan and Elizabeth for a while, talked to one curious browser (Borders is where browsing is a fine art, y'know), and then we left. Oh yeah, we did sign half of their 24 books. I'll be glad when these things are done... We had fun, regardless.
mjj
December 20, 2000
Raleigh's North Carolina News Network
A radio interview with Bruce Ferrell; aired Dec. 24 at 4:30 a.m.
Okay, so I lied about the last reading/discussion being the final literary event of 2000. The folks at Bridge set up this radio interview with a local station that broadcasts to 90 affiliated stations, including 101.5 in Raleigh (Mix 101.5).
This interview was a joint interview with myself and fellow WotFer Dan Barlow. In addition to being a writer, Dan is a publisher. Check out his publishing company, Aardwolf Press. Okay, so we got together today at 12:30 (I took an, um, extended lunch break) and chatted for about 40 minutes with Bruce Ferrell, the host of the North Carolina Report. Bruce was sort of a one-man show, operating the sound board, recording everything, and smoothly leading us through the interview. I was impressed. He asked some great questions, and allowed us to give in-depth answers about how we got into writing, what it was like to go to LA and meet all the writers there, and what our publication has done for us. He also asked what our working habits were and what we were currently working on, so I got to talk about my upcoming publications and my fantasy novel. Quite fun. The only negative was that on my way to the interview, I was running a bit late, and one of Raleigh's finest felt the need to pull me over for going 15 miles over the speed limit on I-40. Wasn't that nice? Merry Christmas to you, too! In any case, for an event that I almost couldn't go to due to work issues, I'm glad I got to do this. I felt like a real Writer, not some hack, as I discussed my writing process and talked about all I've done in the past few years. I've done a lot, and hope to do much more in the years to come!
How's that for an uplifting end to the year? See you here next in 2001.
mjj
December 2, 2000
Raleigh's Quail Ridge Books
Books Sold:
2 (to 2 of the other authors)
Last literary event of 2000. Whew.
This one was supposed to be a group reading, with four other writers - Dan Barlow, Scott Nicholson, dgk Goldberg, and Jule Parks - but it turned into a panel discussion, basically for my family and friends and two other folks. I wasn't too crazy about the whole idea. I was a bit under the weather with a cold, and didn't feel much like public speaking. But once I settled into my role, I enjoyed it. Dan didn't show up, so it was just the four of us.
It was nice meeting Scott in person, after exchanging e-mails back and forth a couple times. He's a friendly guy with lots of cool ideas about writing and publishing. Kelly Goldberg was a lot of fun, threatening to start stripping if no one showed up soon in he audience. Julie Anne Parks was informative about writing while juggling a family and a full-time job, and I'm looking forward to reading her novel. We chatted with the crowd for over an hour, and I was happy to see not only my family and "the girls" but my friend Chris and John Kessel. As it was run more like a panel, everyone got a chance to talk, and we even fielded some questions from the audience.
Since all of us were horror writers, with me on the newbie end of the spectrum and the others closer to the pro side of the spectrum, we got to chat a lot about being pigeonholed and how horror is more than the Big Three (King, Koontz, & Rice). We also talked about why we wrote "speculative fiction" (our preferred term). Great question. I think we all agreed that it was the chance to stretch our imaginations and do more than just take "a snapshot of reality (Kelly's term - great point!) with our writing. An opportunity to do more. To release the inner child in us all. Okay, I didn't say that. But you get my point. And with horror, you get to take something that is ordinary and twist it and make it scary.
Something Scott said was also quite apt - he noted how true a show like "The Simpsons" can be, while still being quite obviously satire and unreal. That's what spec fiction can do. Take reality one step beyond. And on that note, I'm gonna step out and see if the foot of snow we're supposed to get has started falling...
mjj
November 18, 2000
Chapel Hill's Waldenbooks
Totals:
15 people stopped by --
Including Elizabeth, Clarke, Josh, Cammie, Tammy, Lindsey, Lori, Anna, and some passersby
Books Sold:
0
The next one was another new experience. It wasn't a reading or discussion, but a straightforward signing. So, there I was, a printout of my story in hand, when I was directed to the book-laden table outside the store. I was to peddle my story like the Salvation Army bell-ringer outside (at least I wasn't out in the cold, I guess). It was... interesting.
So I borrowed a pen and sat there for my two hours, waiting for people to buy books. Since I had a printout of my story (I was planning on reading it out loud, even if no one came!), I went through it to find what I could read at my next reading while Lizzie went shopping with Clarke. As you can see, I was ready to meet my fans:
No, I'm not flipping off the camera; I'm brandishing my pen. I was ready to sign some books, man! We didn't bring our own camera, so we had to make do with the disposable camera that Clarke had in her car. Notice the John Grisham (yikes!) and Dr. Seuss (cool!) books behind me.
This young lady had many questions for me. Of course, that was because she knew me and came by to help my two hours in front of the store pass more quickly. We had to "strike a pose" for Elizabeth, behind the camera. "Hmmm, how interesting." "You don't say. Very interesting."
I did have two people confuse me for L. Ron Hubbard ("My husband loves your books!" "Um, actually, he's dead...") and I gave away two bookmarks. I did get to sign both the bookmarks and half of the books. It was sort of fun watching folks walk by - they'd look at me, then look away quickly, then look again at the sign. I could almost hear them thinking, do I know that person? is he someone famous? where have I head that Hubbard name before? Like I said, it was a new experience, made fun by my friends and family dropping by. And I had time to reread my story and come up with some ideas for a possible novel based on the aliens in the story. Maybe someday.
mjj
November 8, 2000
Durham's Barnes & Noble
Totals:
10 people --
Elizabeth, our friend Clarke, my coworker and her boyfriend, Dan's wife and son, the bookstore lady, the president of the Research Triangle Science Fiction Society (hi Laura!), and 2 bona-fide, no-strings-attached fans.
Books Sold:
2
This first "event" was a co-reading and discussion with Durham writer Dan Barlow. It went well, but I was tired; I had to fly out to San Francisco 2 days earlier, and I'd just gotten back at 5:30 that day, and the reading was a 7:30, two hours later. So I read a couple pages and tried to stay awake and make some sort of intelligent conversation with the few people who were there.
I have to admit, I was looking forward to this reading. Even though I would've rather hung out at home after sitting in a plane all day, I had visions of a packed house and signing my autograph until late in the evening.
Actually, my expectations were much lower than that, after the sobering experiences I had at the local convention in September. I was just hoping there'd be someone there other than myself, Elizabeth, Dan, and his wife Jennifer. There were, so I was happy. I sipped some really strong, really bad coffee and read my couple of pages, then let Dan read for a good 15 minutes (I think he felt he had to make up for lost reading time since I didn't read longer - sorry!). After he was done, we discussed the whole Writers of the Future thing, and my need for order took over and I started yammering away about how everyone should enter the contest as it's free and the prizes are great. We didn't even get into the whole Scientology aspect of it, which was probably for the best. I'm kind of over all that now, anyway. To each his or her own.
One down, at least two more to go!