Oui, oui, wheeeee!

I went to Montreal, P.Q. this past weekend...

The trip to Montreal was half business, half pleasure.  I met up with a few friends, but the catalyst for the trip was to do some book store signings in a city (any city!) outside of Toronto (most of my book promo events thus far have been in the Toronto area). 

Montreal is a good sized city (one of the three biggest cities in Canada) and it seemed like a good idea to try to build some word of mouth in another urban centre.

BUT... Montreal, or at least the province of Quebec, is French speaking (officially).  Montreal, however, does have a large English and/or bilingual population, so I figured it would probably be okay to try a signing there...

WOW!  It went even better than I had expected, and - ironically- it was even better than some of my Toronto events! 

I signed on Saturday afternoon at Chapters Pointe Claire and on Sunday afternoon at Chapters on Rue Ste. Catherine; I sold 20 and 24 copies of Blood and Groom respectively. 

What blew me away, though, was how incredibly supportive and encouraging the staff at each store were!  The Ste. Catherine staff - in particular Sam, Mathieu, and Ian - were awesome!!!!  They steered people my way, they made sure all the staff on duty were aware of the event and knew about the book.  It was a great feeling, a really positive environment, and I look forward to signing there again someday.  I also have to give a shout out to Craig and the staff at Pointe Claire, they were fantastic as well. 

As for the language issue, well,  it wasn't an issue at all, really.  A few customers were French speakers (or readers) only, but many people were interested in talking with me about the book and no one gave me grief for chatting them up in English.

So all in all, it was a great weekend.  A big, hearty THANK YOU to Chapters Quebec!

Signings and Wannabe Writers

I have been doing a number of signings and library events over the last while.  They've all gone pretty well.  It's fun to meet folks, and to talk about the book.  People have generally been interested, enthusiastic, supportive and all around really good. 

However, I have to let loose with a minor ketch...

At almost every event, there is an aspiring writer who has lots of questions.  Now, I am more than happy to share my experiences and to give whatever bits of advice I have, but...

I remember reading a great book on writing ,publishing and editing called:

78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published

and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might

- By Pat Walsh

It was a great book and I learned a lot from it.  In it, he (I assume Pat is a he) describes a meeting with a wannabe writer - a friend of a friend situation.  He agreed to meet with the aspiring author.  Turns out, the person only had ideas for a book, but had not actually written anything.

Now, I get it! 

Some girl at the signing I did this weekend monopolized my time for a good 20 minutes.  I am not an expert on how to write or how to get published, but she decided to pick my brain.  (I'm not sure there's much there to pick, but that's another story...)

I was a bit irked - I was in the store to sell books, after all (sold 15, so I guess that's okay).  I am still trying to build a reputation, develop an audience and all that.  I am happy to share my own experiences, but of course every situation and story is different.  Anyhow, this girl kept pushing and badgering me and seemed angry that I wouldn't tell her THE SECRET to getting published.  

Finally, I asked her about her writing.  Turned out (drum roll please) that she had not written anything yet, she just had an idea for a book. 

Now I totally get the Pat Walsh anecdote.

And - I have to say this even if it is cranky - I think it was kind of schmucky of her to gab with me for so long and then not to even buy my book.  Kind of rude, IMO.