Buzz Time

Michelle Brown with an E as she introduced herself was the newly designated Community Relations Manager and she was doing her best to make the most of a night that seemed to have caught her by surprise as much as the new job did. She attended to each of the five authors—no wait… one wrote the forward and stood in for the author who was in Thailand and the other was the subject of a short book about a young solider during the Korean War facing fear—like a mother duck to her ducklings. Nevertheless, we all had our five minutes of fame, I sold two books maintaining my one book an hour average sale.

The highlight was that Raymond Brody’s mom and dad stopped in to meet me. If you don’t know Raymond, then you have not been paying attention on Sunday mornings when Camping in the Zone discusses the ins and out of hitting the road in an RV. (If you want to know how to winterize your investment, tune that dial in at 8 AM Eastern.) Buzz introduced himself and I recognized his voice from the radio. We talked about when the next book is due out (after I write it). Itis about my RV trip and he would be interested in selling the book at trade shows. He showed me photos of his grandkids, Ethan and Camille (he didn't have any of Raymond), and he promised to send me photos of the Terra-cotta soldiers in China.

What do you call a person who attends a book signing, is the last to leave and doesn’t even buy a book? After I excused myself, I drove back to Bean Station. Ahead of me rose a waxing orange moon. For the next hour I watched it slowly lift off the horizon, growing smaller and whiter in its path across the sky. Early this morning before I left for New York, the moon hung in the western sky a pale lopsided light.

Photo: Valerie Perez