Books on the Square is a great independent bookstore in Providence.  Carole Finger is the manager, who arranged my reading, and her blind Westin Terrier, Max, is a store mascot.  It was a super relaxed place to give a reading and also to look at books.  My cousins Rob and Faye got out a good crowd for me including Sara, Amy, Peter, Lucy and some attorneys from Rob’s firm.  All a lovely audience.  But what really made a lasting impression of the night, for me and the audience I think, was a lovely Dad and son.  I always say when you give a reading there are no strangers in the room.  But this father, who had two deaf sons-twins- had noticed a flier for my reading last week and guessed that the book was about deafness in some way.  He checked it out and decided to come back with his older son for the reading.  He shared some of their personal experience with having deaf sons, their learning to sign and getting cochlear implants and learning to talk, and eventually going to mainstream schools.  He said his sons weren’t that into signing right now, but he hoped as they became teens their interest in it would return.  He added something real to the subject, that however educational fiction might be- it just isn’t real life.  Thanks for coming everyone!

In these weeks after the paperback release, I feel I should apply renewed energy to promotion.  There are various ways to do this; some are fun, some aren’t.  Travelling for book signings to LA and Providence was the good stuff.  And I really do enjoy doing an author interview, especially when Desiree from Book Club Queen asks such probing questions.  Emailing professors, reviewers, booksellers, etc. crosses the line from fun to duty.  And visiting Barnes and Noble stores throughout NYC is it’s own kind of ickiness.  Here’s the deal.  If your book has just come out in paperback- and you’re me- five copies will be shelved under literature under S.  Not a prominent place to get discovered.  I’ll let you in on a little secret.  B&N staff are kind.  So, I’ve been wandering into some stores, (ie taking the subway to different neighborhoods on my lunch break) and asking if I can sign their copies of my paperback.  Not only do I get to leave a purple signature in my books, but they get a dark green sticker we’ve all seen that says, “Signed by the Author.”  And most significantly, the staff are then inclined to move the little pile to a “New in Paperback” table.  Certainly worth my time and the now $2.25 to ride the subway.

I have to admit I feel a little like I conquered the giant.  On June 9th, The Sign for Drowning was released in paperback.  I’m enjoying a second publication season, which included my first time as a featured author at a Barnes and Noble.  The reading was last week at the Encino branch in Los Angeles.  My very first reading for “Sign” was last summer at a public library in LA.  My mom and my sister were both there and many friends of my mom’s and high school friends of mine.  Well, I think this B&N reading was a bit of a “you’ve come a long way baby” moment.  I was not at all insulted when both my mom and sister said- “You’re so much better now!”  In the 12 months and half a dozen readings in between, I’ve learned about introducing the novel for one.  I’ve learned that a lengthy reading of a sad portion of a literary novel is not what people want on their Sunday evening.  And I’ve learned that when your mom gets twenty of her closest fans to come hear me read, and when the bookstore managers (Kris and Jeannie) are so kind and generous, I’m bound to have a great time.  Another big boost to this reading was that I’d been invited to a book club while I was in LA, and because time did not permit me joining them, Gail brought her book club to Barnes and Noble.  They were amazing readers and made astute comments and asked meaningful questions.  Thank you for coming!  I’d do it again anytime.