Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: chipper
  • Music: Counting Crows, "Anna Begins."

Here, there, everywhere, and the Jelly Belly factory.

Yesterday was my bookday birthday, when Rosemary and Rue [Amazon]|[Mysterious Galaxies] finally hit shelves in stores across the nation. Because we are all mad here, my mother, Amy, and I decided that the best way to celebrate was by taking a trek up the length of California to sign books in every damn bookstore between Concord and Sacramento.

I never said we were sane.

The routine was pretty straightforward. One, find the bookstore. Two, scout the bookstore to see if they had any visible copies of Rosemary and Rue, as this meant we wouldn't be asking anyone to go into the back of the store. Three, find someone who works there, express that I am a local author (for increasingly inaccurate values of "local" as we moved away from Concord), and inquire as to whether I might sign some stock for them. Four, sign stock. Note that nowhere in this progression of events is anything resembling "check ID." By the eighth bookstore, I was seriously tempted to say "Hi, my name is Stephanie Meyer, and I wrote this book..."

The assistant manager at the Barnes and Noble in Albany thanked me for only using my powers for good. She doesn't know me very well.

As we made our way from bookstore to bookstore, we passed through Fairfield, California, home of the Jelly Belly factory. Amy, unwisely, said "I like sugar." My mother took this as a holy mandate demanding that we take the free Jelly Belly factory tour. I don't like jellybeans. I love my mother. I love Amy. I went on the tour. Fear my martyrdom. (Actually, there really wasn't any martyrdom, because Jelly Belly also makes candy corn. Fear me in the candy corn factory.) The Jelly Belly factory was reasonably cool. Amy and I have decided to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool with jelly beans and take people swimming.

The result of all yesterday's labors? Amy has a stomachache, and there is already a "collectible" autographed copy of Rosemary and Rue on eBay for fifteen dollars. Because humanity is awesome that way.

I survived!
Tags: amy, in the wild, my mom is nuts, rosemary and rue, toby daye, wild adventures
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  • 99 comments

vixyish

September 2 2009, 19:55:57 UTC 7 years ago

Forgot to tell you! I went to Barnes & Noble yesterday to see if they had it, because my Amazon copy won't be here until the weekend, when I will be, y'know, visiting the author.

Anyway, the in-store computer directed me to the SF/Fantasy section, but it wasn't there, so I bugged the info desk, who said they had 11 copies and had someone bring me one. I said "no no, bring them all, and put them UP!" They smiled politely and brought me one. I said "you should shelve the rest! Today's the release date!" "We will," they said. I tried to say "I'm not just saying that because she's my friend!" but there was another customer in line so I didn't.

Also I went and had the local small-owned bookstore special order one for me. I think I might give her some bookmarks when I pick it up.

...so far that's three copies I'll have bought, but I've had at least one request to have you autograph one when I get there, so that works out anyway. :)

greektoomey

September 2 2009, 20:56:36 UTC 7 years ago

I just got home from B&N at 7th & Pine (it's a sick day, for certain values of "sick"), and they still weren't out. The kind woman at the info desk explained that they probably hadn't been shelved yet because they were only received yesterday. I didn't argue with her.

Anyway, I bought myself a reading/lending copy, so that the copy you get autographed for me (Hi Seanan!) will remain pristine, unlike my inscribed copy of Palimpsest.

Incidentally, Barnes & Noble has apparently implemented a new, proprietary alphabetization scheme (does that sound as absurd as it feels to type?) in which all names beginning with "Mc" are alphabetized as though they began with "Mac." *facepalm*

vixyish

September 2 2009, 21:01:10 UTC 7 years ago

Actually, alphabetizing "Mc" prior to all "Ma" names is strictly correct; it's what I learned in elementary school when we had library days.

I noticed it there too, and I was kind of pleased to see it actually in use somewhere for once. :)

(I'm a dork like that.)

greektoomey

September 2 2009, 21:12:25 UTC 7 years ago Edited:  September 2 2009, 21:13:14 UTC

"Strictly correct" according to whom? I'm not being snarky, I'm sincerely wondering who is the recognized authority in such matters. I mean, is it a universal library science standard, is it done that way in encyclopedias, or what? Is there an international cabal of Rosicrucian Librarians?

And what other secret, arcane, anti-intuitive bits of alphabet surrealism have I been missing?

This information is very upsettling. [sic]

Edited for grammar.

vixyish

September 2 2009, 21:20:44 UTC 7 years ago Edited:  September 2 2009, 21:22:41 UTC

Well, to be honest, the only answer I know for sure is "my elementary school librarian". So y'know. :) Grain of salt and all that.

Edit: oh, as to other bits of alphabetical surrealism: the word "The" at the beginning of a title is supposed to be ignored when alphabetizing titles. Also the word "A" at the beginning of a title.

It drives me BATTY that computers are never programmed to do this. I have been known to excise the initial "the" from band names in my mp3 filenames just to get them to appear where they're SUPPOSED to.

ladyqkat

September 2 2009, 22:17:26 UTC 7 years ago Edited:  September 2 2009, 22:22:59 UTC

Hmmm - I wonder if your elementary school librarian may have only remembered part of that. IIRC (and I had to learn it because of my last name) the sequence is:

Mac(capital letter)rest-of-name

Mc(capital letter)rest-of-name

Mac(lower-case letter)rest-of-name


I think one reason it went like that was because many of the librarians who set-up the system were Scots.

ETA: So, if Seanan and I went by last name alphabetization it would be MacDonald, McGuire, Macdonald.

greektoomey

September 2 2009, 23:29:32 UTC 7 years ago

*counter-intuitive

cleothyla

September 3 2009, 01:29:33 UTC 7 years ago

Funny, I went to the B&N in Crossroads today and found them just fine. When I went up to pay for it, the lady said that two other people had come in yesterday as soon as they got shelved, practically. And this was a store that didn't have a copy of Palimpsest and didn't even know the author's name.