A day in the wild with my mother and a dead battery.: seanan

A day in the wild with my mother and a dead battery.

Today was my signing event at the Pleasant Hill Borders. I woke bright and early (too bright, and too early; after waking up at 6:20 AM, I went back to bed for another hour and a half), walked to the grocery store for a fresh fruit breakfast, and came back to the house to shower and watch The West Wing while I prepared myself for the day ahead. Wonder of wonders, Mom wasn't just on time, she was early, and we got on the road with time to spare.

After stopping at a yard sale en route, we reached the Borders, parked, hit the Farmer's Market for several pounds of cherries, and went into the bookstore, where I had a small table dedicated to my use, thoughtfully outfitted with some Sharpies and a few bottles of water. People showed up. I signed things. We chatted. It was very nice, although the sheer size of the stack of books made me feel rather like I was letting down the team, and should have been sneaking ninja-like around the store, sliding paperbacks into purses and making people pay to avoid shoplifting fines.

(One fascinating facet of being a "visiting author" in a bookstore: no one wants to meet your eye, for fear that they'll be forced by guilt to buy your book. Much like a Venus flytrap, I had to adopt a strategy of "ignore them until they're too close to escape." Also, once the bookstore employees stop looking you in the face, it's time to leave.)

We eventually took a break for lunch and errands, running to the Best Buy for a new camera* and then to the Texas BBQ for tasty, tasty lunch. I had BBQ chicken, and we split a blackberry cobbler, to which I can only say HOLY CRAP NOM. After that, it was back to the bookstore for a pleasant hour of reading all their comic books while not actually signing anything. Oh, well.

And then the fun started.

See, when we left the bookstore, the car wouldn't start. Several people ignored Mom's pleas for a jump, leading her to call a friend to come jump us. The battery was essentially a zombie at this point, obeying our commands only so long as we didn't feed it salt...so it was off to Pep Boys to buy a battery. Um, yay? I was so tired I was yawning the whole time, and read several old Women's World magazines, which taught me that a) desserts are good, but b) I shouldn't eat them ever, or I'll be fat and no one will love me, and c) men like sex, presumably after a good dessert that I'm not allowed to eat. Again, um, yay?

Having purchased a new battery, Mom drove me to the comic book store, and I salved my wounded soul with graphic novels. Which I will now read. So if you're wondering where I am? I'm in the back of my house, reading the new X-Babies.

Snikt.

(*Yes, this means kitty pictures soon. You're welcome.)

saffronrose

June 6 2010, 03:26:07 UTC 7 years ago

New comment

I'd buy more fresh cherries if more farmers out here grew Montmorency cherries--a sour/tart cherry usually used in pies. Trader Joe's has them dried, and while yummy, just don't cut it when you really want a fresh juicy few pounds.

seanan_mcguire

June 6 2010, 14:50:08 UTC 7 years ago

Ooooooooooooooo.

debmats

June 6 2010, 03:32:12 UTC 7 years ago

It was nice to see you today and thank you for signing my book! My nephew was very excited to meet his first author =) He wanted to know all about the book, so I gave him a brief synopsis. He started reading the book on the drive home and it went home with him...

June 6 2010, 14:50:19 UTC 7 years ago

Hee! Awesome.

kshandra

June 6 2010, 04:13:16 UTC 7 years ago

I finished the book about half an hour ago.

I hate you. ;-)

The scene that made you cry like a baby when you wrote it? Hit me hard enough that I damn near threw up. (The tears came along about a chapter and a half later.)

gridlore has my reassurance that nothing will trigger his PTSD (though I'm half-tempted to ask him to read it while I'm around, just in case I'm wrong, so I can glue him back together after), and will get back to it as soon as he's done with one of the other books that Tom sold us at con. Probably tomorrow.

June 6 2010, 14:50:38 UTC 7 years ago

I know you hate me. It's okay. Also, yay. :)

argonel

June 6 2010, 04:41:21 UTC 7 years ago

Yay, kitty pictures "real soon now".

Deleted comment

7 years ago

dornbeast

June 6 2010, 04:56:11 UTC 7 years ago

I was so tired I was yawning the whole time, and read several old Women's World magazines,

As far as I can tell, Women's World and similar magazines were created to give women body-image issues, eating disorders, and other psychological troubles. They aren't actually meant to help women in any way that I can figure out.

Then again, I'm not female, so my opinion on such matters obviously lacks perspective.

dimloep_suum

June 6 2010, 05:51:43 UTC 7 years ago

No, you're exactly right about those trash rags, and as a (bio)female, they offend my delicate sensibilities.

dena

ladyfox7oaks

bigherman

June 6 2010, 05:21:56 UTC 7 years ago

So sorry for the car! Jeez-louise. I'd sell you mine if I thought it wasn't a stick-shift hole-in-the-muffler chip-in-the-windshield piece of hoopty ass.

There's an oracle in the radio, though.

June 6 2010, 14:51:48 UTC 7 years ago

We'll find something. I have hope.

June 6 2010, 08:03:22 UTC 7 years ago

Boo and hiss to the car problems! But I'm sure you made some people happy with the signing of the zombie books. Incidentally, I was in Barnes & Noble today and saw someone shambling around the sci-fi aisle with Feed in hand. Hurrah.

June 6 2010, 14:52:01 UTC 7 years ago

Oh, AWESOME.

June 6 2010, 08:34:30 UTC 7 years ago

Several pounds of cherries?... SO... About this divining technique that uses cherry pits...

June 6 2010, 14:52:23 UTC 7 years ago

Yes, the one I said I'd write up when I had the time and got around to it?

This is not that time.

jongibbs

June 6 2010, 12:14:24 UTC 7 years ago

'Several people ignored Mom's pleas for a jump, leading her to call a friend to come jump us'

Nice neighborhood :(

I'm glad the signing went off okay and you got the car sorted in the end.

June 6 2010, 14:52:49 UTC 7 years ago

That was sort of the problem. The neighborhood was nice enough that people weren't willing to risk grease on their hands.

jerusha

jane_dark

June 6 2010, 15:40:13 UTC 7 years ago

Bah. That story makes me a little sad that I gave up car ownership for car sharing, because not wanting dirty hands is a rotten reason not to give someone a jump.

June 7 2010, 15:06:34 UTC 7 years ago

Well, thank you.

qnofhrt

June 6 2010, 17:09:25 UTC 7 years ago

*Yes, this means kitty pictures soon.

Yay for kitty pictures!

June 7 2010, 15:22:39 UTC 7 years ago

They're magically delicious.

docpockets

June 6 2010, 19:00:42 UTC 7 years ago

Sorry about the car trouble. In a New York Times article today (Sunday) there are some colleges that allow students to bring pets. When I read one guideline that restricted pets to "less than 40 pounds" I instant thought of Feed and viral amplification. See what you have done to me?