Monday, December 06, 2010

December Signings

This month is so full, I hardly have time to get home at the end of the day before I'm turning around and jetting off to somewhere new. This week, I'll be at the Barnes & Noble in Torrance, followed by the Barnes in Manhattan Beach. They're good neighbors, and both fabulous bookstores with fascinating readers and wonderful staff. Mike and Penny, the respective community relations managers of each, are two of the best in the business. It's always great to work with them.

The biggest reason I look forward to signing events is the wide variety of readers I meet wherever I go. Last time I was at the store in Torrance, I met enough characters to populate the next Jimmy O'Brien novel. This past week while I was signing in Montclair, a woman walked into the store, took one look at the cover of Detour to Murder, and said, "That's Tom!" Tom Neal, the lead actor in the film Detour, lived for some years out in Palm Springs. The man is not forgotten, and his brief appearance on the cover of my novel has garnered yet another Jimmy O'Brien reader.

I've talked with a good deal of writers, too, from self-published entrepreneurs to such big names as Tim Powers, two-time winner of the World Fantasy Award. And December's just begun! There's no saying who I'll come across in the next few weeks. Perhaps it'll be you!

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