Redemption, Tis the Season

A couple of years ago I was at Borders in Marlborough (big surprise) and unbeknown to me there was an author event. Usually authors chat it up with their readers, answer questions and even sometimes read passages from their books. It's great. I have been to a couple like Salvatore (he was really big with me at the time and still is fondly a favorite for fluff) and Brian Jacques (seriously I started reading his books when I was 11, this was huge and still one of my best memories!) both of which turned out really good crowds. Considering the time I spend at Borders I have stumbled on to many more and watched them all play out. This one day no one showed up. I mean no one. It was early on a Monday too but I felt really bad for this lady. Despite really feeling bad for her, (she was upset, rightly so, and packed up after awhile) I could not get up and go talk to her. I can make the excuses of shyness and a slight panic attack, the fact that I had never heard of the woman or any of her books, all of that is understandable but still, at the end of the day I felt like a tool.

I have regretted this since then.

So today I walk into Borders for a little browsing and relaxation and oh boy it is author day. Not one, not two but 14 local authors there to sign, talk and overall look good over by the music section. At least there were people talking to them, I did not feel obligated. But these people were one step ahead of me. Walking around the store they would come up to people, introduce their books (and themselves) and have a nice little conversation with you. Over all I talked to 7 of them, some who came up to me and others who I went up to.

While it can't help that women who had a bad day years ago I think karma may accept it anyways. Some of the books sounded really interesting and though I could not buy them today I have their names for either the TBL or TBR lists. Rock on writers, rock on!