A big fat month of fun!

Wow, it's October already! I did not see that coming.

My October is going to be quite busy, with a capital BEE, It starts with the Duarte Festival of Authors, a fundraiser for the Friends of the Duarte Library, held in the lovely Westminster Gardens Memorial Park. I'll be there on Saturday, October 5th, from early to late. I believe the official hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. but it doesn't matter, I'll be arriving early and staying til the last dog is dead, as they say. (I'm not sure who "they" are, but they're a macabre bunch.)

My mystery buddies will be there, too. Terry Ambrose, Pam Carter Ripling (writing as Anne Carter), Jenny Hilborne, Teresa Burrell, and who knows who else. We call ourselves Murder, We Wrote, and we have a Facebook page, if you're interested. There will be books and authors and food and more. We're supposed to be on a panel together. I'll give you the details when I get them.

Then on the following weekend, I'm in a parade!

Placentia Heritage Day is always the second Saturday in October. There is always a pancake breakfast, a parade, then a day-long lovefest in Tri-City Park. As a trustee for the Placentia Library District, I get to ride in the parade. This will be my second year. I haven't decided whether to wear the tiara again, but I have started to get my waving arm in shape. I never knew how taxing it was to continually wave along the route!

After the parade, I will have a booth in the park where you can buy my books and I'll autograph them. I'll even just stand around and chat with you, because I love meeting people.

I'd love to come home and rest after that, but on Sunday, Oct. 13th, I'll be selling and signing at the Big Orange Book Festival (aka, BOB), held at Chapman University in Orange. I've never been to this event before, so we'll see how it all shakes out. Of course, you'll be getting a de-brief.

Because I will be so insanely busy, I've decided to ramp up the action by posting blogs every day, not just here, but on Snoopy's blog, too! We'll be doing some giveaways, and giving you some surprises.

Stop in every day and see what you could win!

Duarte, here I (we?) come

I have been working steadily toward my goal of finishing Snoopy's memoir by the first week of November, mostly by sitting my tushie down and writing, but also by scheduling my week so I know when I am available to write. One of the things I've discovered is that planning/wishing to write is useless when my day is already crammed with other activities. Better to let that day be what it is, and schedule the day that works.

Today, I scheduled a non-writing day, even though I am only busy in the late morning (and sort of early afternoon) taking a riding lesson. What else could be so important?

I have to get my books and stuff ready for the Duarte Author Festival this Saturday. I won't tell you this is a big money-maker for me. It's not. It's a lot of schlepping and schmoozing for a few book sales. Why do it?

1. It's in a beautiful venue, so I feel I have not schlepped in vain.

2. Schlepping aside, I like schmoozing, and people actually recognize me from the previous years. I know that I can get signups to be alerted to my next book release, and gather more fans.

3. This is the festival where I met Ray Bradbury. It will always have a place in my heart.

4. I usually get to spend the day with one of my good writing buddies, Pam Carter Ripling (writing as Anne Carter). I love her lighthouse mysteries, and she's such a peach. (Note: she will not be here this year and I'm dying just a little, but Tee Burrell will be sharing the table and she's equally good company.)

Pam's on the right (her funny/cute niece Alyssa is on the left, and our dear friend Jeff is in the middle)

5. This is a fundraiser for the Friends of the Duarte Library. How can I not support that?

Now that I've listed why I will be there, here are five good reasons why YOU should join me:

1. It's not that far away (Westminster Gardens, 1420 Santo Domingo Ave, Duarte). Only thirty minutes from my house in Orange County, for Pete's sake.

2. Once you get there, it looks like this.

Pretty, yes?

3. They have over 50 authors, entertainment, children's activities, and panels where authors talk about books.

4. Did I mention this is a library fundraiser?

5. You can schmooze with moi. I'll have my physical books for sale, plus a sign-up sheet for my soon-to-be-released third mystery, The Hot Mess. PLUS, if you visit my Facebook Author Page, there is a secret code for getting a big discount on any of my books, including the new one.

Now that I've given you all the reasons to come, and there's no reason not to (other than band practice or heart surgery), when can I expect you to show up?

I had a moment and I liked it



I can take credit card payments!



April 30th - May 1st: Where were you on the weekend in question?

I was at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, held on the USC campus for the first time ever. The bad news is, I didn't see any of the festival. The good news is, it's because I was in a booth, selling my books.

I've been to the festival once, two years ago, when Karen Syed of Echelon Press called and said, "I've got 20 copies of your book handy. Want to come and sell them?" (See that post here.)


Last year's festival came and went without much fanfare in my household, mostly because I didn't have a new book out yet, and partly because I was buried in obligations to two booster clubs at my son's school, plus that whole, pesky, He's Graduating business.

Imagine this with one more author!

When Pam Ripling emailed me this year and asked, "How about a bunch of us renting a booth at the festival," I answered in a heartbeat: "I'm in."


There were supposed to be six of us: Pam (aka Anne Carter), Jen Hilborne, Tee Burrell, Joel Fox, Jeff Sherratt, and me. At the very last minute, Jeff had to cancel due to illness (we all hope you're on the mend, Jeff), which left five. This was probably a good thing, although I love Jeff's company and of course don't want him to be sick, but five authors in a booth is a little tight. Jeff's got a lot of books out there, and a big presence.


We might have had to put an author in the tree next to the booth.




L-R: Alyssa Montgomery, Sydney Fox, Pam Ripling

 When you're selling your books, you are constantly talking to everyone who comes by the booth. "Hi, how are you today? Do you like mysteries? What kind of books do you read? Weather's a little warm isn't it? Let me tell you about my books…"


Yadda yadda yadda blah blah.


You also learn to profile people. You somehow instantly recognize That Person Who Likes Mysteries, as well as That Person Who Wants You to Shut Up. And, sooner or later, you learn to recognize people who are just "different."


In my youth I thought of these people as "crazy", "clueless", "avoid-at-all-costs" folks. Now that I've been around the block a few times (mostly because I can't follow directions), and thanks to the world of behavioral analysis, I see these people as just being different than me, in terms of how they process and respond to the world around them.


A man wandered toward our booth. I hadn't paid much attention to his stops along the way, but he was coming toward me, so I greeted him. He was a pudgy man, dressed too warmly for the day, and although he was not odiferous, he had that look about him that said his hygiene was casual, at best. He wore thick glasses over slightly-crossed eyes, and had bad teeth. And when I say "bad teeth", I'm talking spectacularly, intriguingly, bad. Not only were they brown, every other tooth appeared to be missing (at least in the front), and they were skewed in his mouth, as if they were half-a-tooth off from where they should be located.


He spoke quickly, in a kind of thick-tongued way, all about his obsession with movies of the 30's in general and Republic Pictures in particular. He attended their 75th anniversary celebration and got to meet some of their stars, including Peggy Stewart. Within the space of ten minutes, he told me all this and more, about the movies he liked and the stars he recognized in other movies that are now doing bit parts in TV shows. I also learned he has a girlfriend who he likes to talk to using Red Ryder quotes and when she "gets out of line" he threatens to marry her.


Yeah, I'd straighten up and fly right, too.


His eyes had a way of focusing upward as he spoke, so that he never made eye contact for more than a wisp of a second. After about ten minutes, he kind of ran out of steam and moved down the booth to the next person, until he'd exhausted himself and all of us, before moving on.


In the old days, I would have labeled him "odd", or possibly even "crazy." Now I saw a man within the autism spectrum, and understood. No, I didn't want to stand for ten minutes and listen to his turbo-talk, especially when there were people coming up to the booth wanting to know about my books. But he's a human being, and he's socializing the only way he knows how, and I'm a Christian who believes in karma. Either that, or I'm a doormat.


Karma blessed me the very next day. I was driving to Palapas in Fullerton to have a drink with my hubby, thinking about my experiences at the festival, and all of a sudden, it dawned on me:


This weekend, I met Benny Needles.


No, I don't picture him physically like this man, but this is the awkwardly social man who is obsessed with something. Benny has actually been able to rein in his desire to tell everyone everything about Dean Martin. Unless something happened to him, something that caused him to retreat into the only thing that matters: Dino-world.


And in my third Peri Minneopa mystery, that's just what's gonna happen.


Life is good. As Will Varner said, "I feel so good, I might just live fo-EVAH."

The countdown begins

I told you I'd remind you...

This Thursday, I'll be at the Buena Park Public Library, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. along with two other authors Teresa Burrell and Jeff Sherratt, talking about mysteries. Actually, Teresa set up the event, so the whole evening's a mystery to me.

But I'd like to see lots of faces in the audience. Not for myself - I'm the same goofball with one person that I am with a room full. I just want libraries to start getting the interest they deserve. After all, it's free entertainment.

Free. Entertainment. Did you get that? Go to a library, spend an evening with some fun people, maybe even check out a book or a movie. FOR FREE.

Come out to Buena Park and see me, Tee, and Jeff. We're fun, I promise. Okay, Jeff talks a lot, but he's interesting, and I'm bringing duct tape. (Just joking, Jeff! Ha ha.)

I'll make this as easy as possible:

1. Here's where to find Buena Park. It's in California, in case you don't recognize the shape.

2. The Public Library is at 7150 La Palma Avenue. In Buena Park. Here's what it looks like:

Okay, it's a little fuzzy, but it's the best I could do with the resources I've got.

3. If you get lost, their phone number is 714-826-4100.

4. When you get there, we will be in the 2nd Floor Boardroom, at 6:00 p.m.

After the talk, we will all have books for sale. But you don't have to buy any. You can just enjoy the pleasure of our company. The only way I can make this easier is if I came to your house, helped you out of your jammies and into that nice velour track suit, and drove you to the library.

Let me know if you need a ride.

"Time!" was all the White Rabbit said.

How is everyone? Have a good weekend? Me, too.

My weekend started last Thursday, when I got home from the ranch and heard the following message on my home phone:

"Hi, this is Karen Syed. I just received 20 copies of your book today, and I was wondering if you're going to be at the L.A. Times book festival this Sunday. You said you'd try, but you might have something else to do. If you are, I'll bring the books with me for you to sell. Call me back as soon as you can."



Rrrruh?

My first thought was, my book is listed on the Echelon website as being available June 1st. My book launch party is July 19th. How can I have copies for sale now?



It took me all of two seconds to decide that who the hell cares. I called her back immediately and told her yes, YES, I'll be there on Sunday.



The next few days were spent reminding myself to breathe in, breathe out, and repeat as necessary. Thursday night, I went to sleep thinking, in three days I get to see my book. On Friday, I thought, in two days I get to hold my book. By Sunday morning, I could barely inhale from excitement.



I was, of course, early to UCLA on Sunday. In my defense, you never know what the freeways in SoCal are going to be like. The first people in the booth were the Fairy Lady, Bobbie Hinman, and her helpful hubby, who started setting up their portion of the Echelon Press booth. Soon, Jeff Sherratt came, then I think a whirlwind of Teresa Burrell, Jenny Turner, and Herself, Karen Syed. Pam Ripling and Alyssa Montgomery brought up the rear, but were quickly forgiven because they brought food.



I began the day by bribing my publisher with her favorite morning drink (hint: if you need to meet with Karen early, bring a venti decaf caramel machiato from Starbuck's with you), plus an extra little gift of herbal tea and a customized mug I ordered from Zazzle with my book cover on one side and "Get burned. It's cool." on the other side. Cute, huh?



By the time everyone was arranging tablecloths and getting out books and accessories, I looked down at an open box and saw my books. I kind of wanted to pass out, then run around squealing, but I resisted. After all, nobody else was doing that, and I didn't want to look too weird. I took my books out of their box and put them on a table, which is when I found out how truly underprepared I was.



EVERYBODY had bookstands to stand their books upright, and plastic holders to contain their bookmarks and business cards, and postcards and Jenny's got handcrafted book thongs for everyone who buys a book, and...



I had three things: 1) a bunch of bookmarks that I ordered from Vista Prints at the last minute because my real bookmarks haven't been completed yet; 2) a small amount of magnitized business cards because I appreciate the irony of having a refrigerator magnet with a picture of a refrigerator on it; and 3) a stunning realization that I had no clue what I was doing there. To make matters worse, I had forgotten to put a Sharpie in my purse, and I had forgotten my camera. I felt a little boneheaded.



So Jeff loaned me a stand for my book and a Sharpie, Teresa loaned me a holder for my bookmarks, and the little redheaded stepchild put her book display together. Here's what it looked like:



We puttered about until 10 a.m., when the festival officially opened. The first thing we noticed was a huge line forming on the sidewalk beside us. Karen said, "Oh, look, people standing still. Why doesn't someone go give them some bookmarks?"



I was planning to observe how everyone else worked the crowd, but no one moved. I'm pretty sure I had an out-of-body experience at this point - bookmarks in hand, I could feel my feet moving toward the line even though my head was wondering where we were going.



"Who are you waiting for?" I asked a couple.



"James Ellroy."



There was my opening. "Oh, you like mysteries? I wrote one!" I burbled my spiel for them, handing them bookmarks before prattling my way down the line. I tried to give bookmarks to everyone, but I didn't bother the people who were too busy talking to each other. Everyone was so nice to me, they shared in my enthusiasm and promised to come by our booth after they got their books autographed. I'm not sure if they showed up or not, but it was fun talking to them.



Nevertheless, I had my first sale in no time. Here's the picture:




It was very cool, very exciting, very over the top surreal. Each sale was like that. I wanted to scream at Karen, "OMG, they're buying MY book!" But I didn't. I did get better at the spiel, throwing in some humor about what happens when Peri finds that severed hand in Benny's freezer. "Usually I throw those away when I find them," I'd say. "But she decides to call the cops." I'd say it got a laugh at least 97% of the time.

Best encounter of the day? I approached two women and asked if they like mysteries. The younger one pointed to the older one. "My mom does." I gave them my pitch, along with the comedy, and the young woman holds out her hand. "Now THAT'S worth a bookmark," she said. They didn't buy a book, but who knows? My website is listed. It'll be interesting to see what kind of hits I get.



Over the afternoon, I sat one time (to eat lunch with Karen), got slightly sunburned, and sold 17 copies of my book. I took the other three home as part of my author copies.



When the day was done, I helped pack stuff away and schlep things to the car. The good news is I found my car right away, something I'm typically not good at doing. The bad news is that I got a little lost getting back to the freeway. I recently activated the VZNavigator on my phone, so I tried it out. I had my Bluetooth earpiece on, so it was a little weird to have some woman whispering in my ear - "In 1.1 miles, turn right on National." I'm sure my hubby would like this feature.



In light of this unexpected bookselling opportunity, I've set up a new page on my website, "Where's Gayle?" I'll list all my speaking and signing engagements here. It was kind of a hard page to set up. I was going to call it "Appearances" but that sounded either like I'm singing nightly at a piano bar or I work part-time as the Aurora Borealis or some kind of apparition. Even saying it as "Where's Gayle?" has its problems. What if people think they can find my GPS location on the website? ("Oh, she's at Ralph's, get the camera!") Anyway, check it out and tell me what you think, http://www.gaylecarline.com/gayleappearances.html.



On a rather random note, I have a question for you all: when you are having milk and cookies, and the cookies are gone, so you're drinking the milk, do you drink the crumbs as well, or just drink the milk down to where the crumbs get the thickest? Just wondering.