Independent Bookstore Celebration

[cornerofmadness]

I drove all the way to Huntington to go to Empire Books and News for the independent bookstore day celebration and in the hopes of getting the Neil Gaiman coloring books for me and evil_little_dog. The event started at 3:00 which was fine by me since it's about 70 miles away. I get there and park in the garage because a) it's raining b) street parking sucks c) the garage is actually attached to the book store.

And i get there to find out they started selling the damn coloring books at opening bell. I wasn't amused. They'd been sold out for hours before the event. Sigh. However, the rest of the event was nice. I talked to a lot of people, felt guilty about taking a pen and magnet from one lady because I KNEW I wouldn't buy her book (romance) and really had one romance writer excited because I used to hang out in Deadwood (her setting).

I did get a nonfiction about a haunted dentist's office (all sales went to charity) and some SF that I was iffy on (but dammit I drove 70 miles, I was buying SOMETHING). I shocked him when I read the blurb and said Otaktay? That's Lakota for kills many (the name of my Deadwood character) and he was all excited I knew that (and loved my Steampunk TARDIS shirt).

They also had this fun thing where you get a temporary tattoo from Alice in Wonderland, take a picture and email it to 'Alice chain' and I'm waiting to see what happens next. Here's the one I picked.

The girl put it on upside down (one would assume a bookstore employee would be smarter...) and as heavy as I am I have bird arms. All i am is tendons and vessels...

From there I went to Macy's to return that shirt and they didn't even blink in spite of me having it inside out and the tag cut off. Got my 30$ back. Everything new was ugly. Ah well like I need new clothes.

Hit Michael's too because I needed some frames and only bought two things that weren't frames. for me this is a victory.

Then it was off to the Tortilla Factory again and it was just as crowded. Had to eat at the bar again too. Got some Sangria (looks like blood) and the Azteca molcajetes which was tasty but still I'd rather a 100% veggie version!

Then off to Booksamillion to do further damage to my wallet. I bought vol #18 of Attack on Titan even though I don't collect it because it had a half hour OVA of Levi meeting Erwin bundled into it so yeah, had to waste that money. Found a couple new series too (okay dozens of new series, it's getting like the early 00s with that)

Can I just say Rt 2 in WV is a strange strange tract of highway?

I bought my tickets to animazement in Raleigh. Thank god the others mentioned that today was the last day to preregister, 62$ for the entire con vs 65$/day. I won't sell enough books to even break even but the idea isn't so much to make money as to get my face/name out there and pray for internet sales.

And I have part of my Camp Nano up here and people are loving Kaleo (as in I'm getting hurry up and finish comments and beta offers). I'm glad because I love that boy too (even if he messes up in book 2 which he won't shut up about. I just want to know about book 1).

Came home to find out my phone lines are down again. sigh.

Bought more tea I don't need just to keep the spending going...


ETA - OMG. I tweeted that I was disappointed that Empire Books put the books on sale earlier in the day and sold out and Neil Gaiman tweeted back 'that sucks!' I'm so geeky about that right now....

Comments

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

*laughs at myself* When I read that you drove to Huntington... my brain went "she was here & at a bookstore that a) I didn't knwo existed, & b) I missed her?!" then I realized your Huntington isn't my Huntington. XD

Sorry you missed out on the coloring books! I miss Borders more than you'll ever know! Damn you, Amazon, for pricing bookstores out of existence. >.>

Sounds like you had a lot fun at the bookstore! Lunch looks tasty too! :D

*laughs* You sound like me when I go to AC Moore's! It's sooo hard resisting all those quilted Vera knockoffs when I walk in there. (They're right there when you walk in, so very hard to miss. XD)Like I need another huge $15 weekender! XD

Books a Million! A must see when I visit my granny's! :D I always come away from there with more books that'll take me forever to read. XD *has more books than time to actually read them*

Awesomeness! on getting your con tickets so cheap! We've decided to got to ConnetiCon next summer. :D

Even more awesome! Neil Gaiman noticed what you said & commented on it! :D

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

hahaha yes Huntington WV in this case. If I come to the east coast I'll be sure to let you know.

I miss Borders too but BAM is a good substitute (wish it was bigger) and now Amazon has brick and mortar stores, the bastards.


hahaha I hear you some things are hard to resist

And I'll need to live to 100 to read all the books I already own.

I was shocked. i'll be keeping that email alert

[dragonydreams.livejournal.com]

Very cool that Neil Gaiman tweeted back at you. Would totally make my day too. Sorry they were out of his coloring books.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

It was a good geeky moment.

Yeah me too but I shall live. I just thought if you're advertising an event from 3-6 selling one of the drawcards earlier in the day isn't fair.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Yeah! Thanks! :D

You're lucky you have a BAM! There's a Barnes & Noble that I know of, but I'm not that enamored of the chain to want to go there. XD So a trip to the bookstore becomes a treat whenever I visit my granny. :D

*nods* Yup! XD

*nods* This is probably why it's a good thing BAM isn't on the Island. ;p I'm also bad at starting books & taking FOREVER to finish them. XD It doesn't matter if I actually LOVE the book, it'll still take me a long time to finish it. XD

*nods* If I was you, I would be just as shocked! And I keep it too! :D

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

I used to really like B&N but unlike BAM they don't match Amazon's online prices so...

aw. I generally don't take long to finish a book luckily.

definitely keeping it

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Yeah? I always loved Borders! I miss them! T.T

I used to be better, but now I spend way too much time online to finish quickly. XD

*nods* :D

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Borders was my favorite but I knew they were in trouble when tehy were letting amazon manage their online presence.

too much online is killing my writing

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

*nods* Yeah? I had no idea they did that. XD

I hear you. Too much YouTube is killing mine. XD

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

yeah I noticed that nad asked about it at a couple of stores, even spoke to managers and asked do you REALLY think this is a good idea? They said no but there was nothing they could do, upper administrators made that choice. yeah unsurprisingly Amazon ran them into the gruond.

I need to get serious about at least a half hour of internet free writing time a day

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

It's kind of a sneaky underhanded way of getting rid of the competition. Pretend to help & then kill them. >.>

*nods* I just need to find motivation, then I don't worry about distractions, cuz I'm not looking for any. XD

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

it is but you have to wonder why in the name of god the CEOs of borders ever thought it was a good idea in the first place. I've had one business course my entire life and even I know that's just bad business

that too. Or have someone to make a competitive pact with. I do good that way

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Yeah, really! XD Yup! *shakes head at the sheer stupidity*

*nods* Me too!! :D