A Good Time Was Had by All

This is going to be a difficult blog post to write, among the my hardest ever. If all blog posts required this level of gut-wrenching effort to produce, I wouldn’t fool with it. Okay. Enough. Let’s rip this Band-Aid off all at once: I’m going to say nice things about Ed Aymar. Happy?

Ed used his not inconsiderable (and wholly inexplicable) skill at talking people into things to get One More Page Books in Arlington to host an evening of crime fiction last Friday. Ed cobbled together a panel that consisted of Christina Kovac (The Cutaway), Sherry Harris (author of the Sarah Winston Garage Sale series), and Burt Solomon (Killing Willie Lincoln), then risked it all by inviting me.

A crowd of about thirty people showed up anyway and was treated to an evening that showed the uninitiated why crime fiction writers are so often described as the friendliest and most open of all writers: because they are. From Christina’s tales of gruesome dead bodies through Sherry’s cats on her book covers (there are no cats in the books) to Burt’s trials to get the proper Lincoln son on his cover, Ed led an entertaining evening that lasted well past when the good people at One More Page thought they’d be able to go home.

Regardless of who came up with the idea, having a cross-section of crime writers was inspired. Christina writes contemporary thrillers; Sherry does cozies; Burt leverages his non-fiction research skills for historical mysteries; I’m hard-boiled. The audience that appears at such an event is pre-disposed to like crime fiction. Why not give them a taste of what they already like, but in different flavors? The audience questions kept us on our toes and the chats during the signing period were just as good.

So thanks to everyone at One More Page for having me, thanks to everyone who showed up (especially those who bought every book I carried in with me), and special thanks to Christina, Sherry, and Burt for being such great co-panelists.

And, damn it, special special thanks to Ed Aymar, who was directly responsible for 75% of the events on the Resurrection Mall World Tour™. He teed me up for the moderator’s gig at the Gaithersburg Book Festival last month and invited me to read at the Noir at the Bar he set up later that evening, in addition to the event at One More Page. If one is judged by one’s friends, Ed’s can get away with anything.

One thing about him, though. He has like no back hair. None. It’s weird.

Reading and Signing at One More Page

The second reading and signing for Grind Joint took place last Saturday at One More Page Bookshop in Arlington VA. Perfect weather, a parking space right in front on the store, sufficient quarters on hand to feed the meter for the duration; not much more could be asked for.

That doesn’t mean more was not delivered. First, Terry Nebeker and everyone at One More Page could not have been nicer. Terry met us on the sidewalk, everything ready when we walked in the door. A nice turnout of folks from the Writers of Chantilly, the group of which I’ve been a member since I got serious about writing. Read a couple of chapters, told some lies stories, signed some books, and caught up with several people I’d not seen in too long, as well as making a new friend or two.

All writers have heard the horror stories of signings gone bad; I hope to have a career worthy of a few of my own. In my brief personal experience, I have had nothing but fun. The launch at Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont was legendary; I became a successful writer that day, if I never sell another book. A solo table gig at Greeting and Readings in Hunt Valley MD didn’t generate much traffic, but everyone at G & R was so nice I had a good time at what could have been a worst case scenario event for me: having to solicit my own customers. Not much traffic at 2^nd and Charles in Newark DE, but that was the inaugural Meet Myster Write event and showed me the premise is sound, not least because these are fun people to be around. (Anyone on the fence about the 3C Conference in October, think hard. This shows great promise as a unique way to get readers and writers to mingle.)

Book events can be tedious, or a rare combination of entertainment and education, no matter which side of the audience one sits. The two keys are preparation by the author, and a friendly and supportive atmosphere on the part of the bookseller. I’m happy to do the former, and have been spectacularly lucky every time I’ve left the house on the latter, for which I am sincerely grateful to those who did their parts at each venue. Thank you all very much.

Another handful of stops are scheduled on what amounts to the Grind Joint World Tour:

April 27: Kensington Day of the Book Festival, Kensington MD. (If I’m not at my table, I’ll be as close as I can be and still see and hear The Nighthawks.)

June 7: Bowie Book Expo, Bowie MD

October 10 – 12: Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity Conference, Hunt Valley MD

October 30 – November 2: NoirCon, Philadelphia PA

November 13 – 16: Bouchercon, Long Beach CA

(Additional Meet Myster Write events to be announced.)