Autumn Days 2010 report

Autumn Days, Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010, 10:15 a.m.

So I'm sitting down here at Autumn Days in downtown Ada, Oklahoma. I'm thinking this may have been a mistake. Not that it isn't nice -- there's a lot to do down here and the crowd is growing -- but folks aren't stopping at a booth selling books when there are so many other things to do. Some avoid my booth by such a wide berth that you'd think it was on fire.

A lot of tattoos out and about. Hadn't realized my town had so many people into tats. Mostly young people, but a few older folks. I've thought of getting a tattoo, but then I'd think about how mother would rise from the grave and tear me up like a sow's bed, and the notion flees for its life.

The lady in the booth on down from me is having a slow day. She's kind of perturbed about it. I'm determined to have a good day no matter what sales end up being. I think that's how you have to approach things. Let's see how long I can maintain it before I start tripping people.

It's a nice day. Sunshine and a breeze. There are worse things to do than sit in the shade provided by my booth's canopy -- supplied by my lovely friend Kyra -- and watch the people walk by.

There's going to be a parade at 1 p.m. The local college's homecoming parade.

Hey, this may be the first signing where I sell nothing. Kind of depressing, but at least I will know how it feels and be prepared should it ever -- God forbid -- happen again.

I really need a second person here so I could walk around a bit. Maybe a friend will come by and I can rope them into watching the booth while I do that. My friend Kyra were here earlier, but she left for a trip to Texas to watch a Ranger game with her daughter and friends. Kind of lonely here by myself. I'm also kind of bored. Yes, those are two dangerous states for me, but I have no lasers, explosives, chemicals, etc., down here, so people are safe. For now.

A man just passed by with a beard down to his waist. I'm sure he enjoys it, but it seems like it would take a lot of care. Also, things could get caught in it. Like pets or small children. I guess you give it a good shake at the end of the day and let everything drop out.

Woohoo! Just sold a Murder by Dewey Decimal so I'm halfway to having my booth paid for. That also means I won't be skunked this time on sales. Maybe next time.

I brought my laptop with me and attempted to write on it, but the sun washed out the screen almost completely. I couldn't see the screen well enough to type, so I'm writing this on a notepad and will type it in later.

A few people are nice enough to stop and at least talk to me for a few minutes. I appreciate that. Right now, a clown is talking up and down the sidewalk. He's making evil balloon animals for the unsuspecting children as part of the Evil Clown Plot to Take Over the World. I glare at him coldly so he walks on by, looking nervous. No easy victims in this booth, Evil Clown!

It's an hour later, and I've sold two more books. The booth is paid for, which is good because I'd hate for the booth fee check to bounce, although probably not as much as the event organizers would.

Adam and Ria Huckeby and their lovely daughters brought me a cupcake this morning. Delicious! Ria baked 240 cupcakes for the First Baptist children's booths here. Wow. That's a lot of cupcakes, or as I like to think of them, baby cakes of happiness. Ria is an exceptional baker.

It's 11:40 a.m., and remember when I said I was bored? I should have kept my mouth shut because I've had some excitement here. The wind caught my canopy and lifted it straight up and then to the side. The legs of the canopy skidded across both the front and back tables and send books flying everywhere. Two men rushed over and helped me catch the canopy and move it back into position. Several people helped me pick up the books.

Three books got ruined, all my plastic sign holders got cracked, and during the confusion, someone made off with a hardcover Murder by Dewey Decimal and my nice pen. Sigh. I have so few of the Dewey hardcovers left, and I can't order any because the hardcover files were lost, and Lulu.com (my publisher) doesn't offer the book any more. I'd have to reload everything, which I guess I could do, although it's a lot of work.

Sold another book. So far, I've sold two Murder by Dewey Decimal, two Murder by the Acre, and two Floozy and Other Stories. I had actually thought about not bringing the mystery books and focus on Floozy, but now I'm glad I did.

The streets are filling up. People are gathering for the parade. Some people have already staked out a spot, which seems a bit early to me because the parade doesn't start until 1 p.m. The vendor booths are in the parking spaces so we're between the people on the sidewalk and the parade when it starts. Not sure how that's going to work out.

My roomie Eric is going to bring me lunch! Good, I was getting hungry. He's going to get us barbecue sandwiches from one of the food booths. Eric is working the fitness activities for kids that the hospital is sponsoring, but they're already shut down because they ran out of goodie bags to give to the kids. Apparently children won't do fitness without goodies -- a position I totally understand. The rest of the kid activities are still going on.

Parade is starting!

Parade is over. It was nice, several floats from the various Greek organizations, three or four local marching bands, and various other groups. Naturally there were a few "floats" and consisted of a truck and one or two decorations and a few people riding in the back. Not much effort put out there. But otherwise, a nice parade.

The wind picked up after the parade, but my roomie Eric tied a table to the canopy on one side, and he's holding down the other side. No more up up and away.

Oh, during the parade, I sold another book, a Murder by the Acre.

I just got back from talking to a self-pubbed writer in a booth a couple down from me. She wrote a children's book and has sold several here. It's a well made book, a good story, and nicely illustrated. People like to say that most self-published books are badly done, but the ones I've seen at the Chisholm Trail Book Festival and here are good looking, well-written books. Maybe there the cream of the crop, but I'm beginning to think the conventional wisdom of self-pubbed versus traditional pubbed has changed.

Sold another book. A Floozy this time. Yes, I was on the street selling Floozies. I think I'm a book pimp.

And sold two more Floozies. Despite a slow start, sales have turned out okay. I'm glad I was here. My books were exposed to a lot more people, I made a bit of money, I talked to several friends and new people, ate some tasty food not on my diet, and generally had a good time.

Autumn Days in downtown Ada. I wish you all could have been here. Maybe next time.

Buy Floozy and Other Stories in paperback at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy and Other Stories in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Barnes&Noble.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by Dewey Decimal at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Amazon.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at Barnes & Noble.com
Buy Murder by the Acre at BooksAMillion.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in soft cover at Lulu.com
Buy Murder by the Acre in hardcover at Lulu.com
Buy Floozy, MBTA & MBDD items and more at Oakleaf Harbor