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Book signing
Jun. 18th, 2005 03:35 pmUrrrgh. Weather is miserably hot and humid. The shop seems to be sitting in a pool of perfectly still air; all the fan is doing is annoying the flies. It's very un-British weather and reminds me rather a lot of the afternoons I used to spend in Chittaranjan Park, although it's probably cooler than those; I used to wonder how I'd ever have managed to go to school formally in India, because the heat destroys my concentration before it does anything else.
It was even happening this afternoon - I nearly short-changed a customer a fiver - and even when we had front and back doors open, it made no difference. The shop was actually quite busy, as there was a book-signing in the morning for a local historian and quite a few people came in. While we were setting up, Tony got to talking about other authors and other book-signings and his favourite dedications. "The best one was Terry Pratchett's," he said.
I just stopped. "Terry Pratchett? Terry Pratchett did a signing? Terry Pratchett did a signing in this shop?"
For all you people who have friended me over the last week or so (hi!) Pritchard's is a tiny, tiny village bookshop. It has eight staff members, a shop floor about twelve feet square, one ancient till and a tiny little back room. It's the definition of obscure.
But according to Tony, Terry Pratchett did a signing here! "Before you were born," he told me. "The new one he was signing was Equal Rites. About twenty people came."
Wow. "He'd never do it now," said Tony sadly before wandering off into the back, and I'm forced to agree. But still, yay! I'm much too young for most of my interests.
After the signing, Tony departed, leaving us to the tender mercies of the new guy, Mike, who is a strange man indeed. He's got a morbid sense of humour and a goatee, two things which shouldn't coincide in the same person, but he's okay, I think. Time shall tell. He's still on probation in any case.
Also, I have acquired a Father's Day present for Pedar. I shamelessly stole Colleen's idea and got five Pocket Penguins - Michael Moore, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Richard Dawkins, PG Wodehouse and John Maynard Keynes - and two more books for me. The Time Traveller's Wife, finally, and The Clockwise Man because it's exam time and I deserve fluff. Actually, if I had a hundred and five pounds going spare, I'd buy all seventy Pocket Penguins. They are lovely.
Parting of the Ways tonight! Yay.
It was even happening this afternoon - I nearly short-changed a customer a fiver - and even when we had front and back doors open, it made no difference. The shop was actually quite busy, as there was a book-signing in the morning for a local historian and quite a few people came in. While we were setting up, Tony got to talking about other authors and other book-signings and his favourite dedications. "The best one was Terry Pratchett's," he said.
I just stopped. "Terry Pratchett? Terry Pratchett did a signing? Terry Pratchett did a signing in this shop?"
For all you people who have friended me over the last week or so (hi!) Pritchard's is a tiny, tiny village bookshop. It has eight staff members, a shop floor about twelve feet square, one ancient till and a tiny little back room. It's the definition of obscure.
But according to Tony, Terry Pratchett did a signing here! "Before you were born," he told me. "The new one he was signing was Equal Rites. About twenty people came."
Wow. "He'd never do it now," said Tony sadly before wandering off into the back, and I'm forced to agree. But still, yay! I'm much too young for most of my interests.
After the signing, Tony departed, leaving us to the tender mercies of the new guy, Mike, who is a strange man indeed. He's got a morbid sense of humour and a goatee, two things which shouldn't coincide in the same person, but he's okay, I think. Time shall tell. He's still on probation in any case.
Also, I have acquired a Father's Day present for Pedar. I shamelessly stole Colleen's idea and got five Pocket Penguins - Michael Moore, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Richard Dawkins, PG Wodehouse and John Maynard Keynes - and two more books for me. The Time Traveller's Wife, finally, and The Clockwise Man because it's exam time and I deserve fluff. Actually, if I had a hundred and five pounds going spare, I'd buy all seventy Pocket Penguins. They are lovely.
Parting of the Ways tonight! Yay.
