Mystery Lover's Bookshop's 14th annual Festival of Mystery Monday was a big success. Festival book sales were up 14 percent from last year, hopefully a sign that in the tough economy people are turning to books for entertainment.
My stack of books waiting to be read doubled after my visit to the festival with books from Jane K. Cleland, Shirley Damsgaard, Kathryn Miller Haines, Stefanie Pintoff, Marcia Talley, and Heather Terrell. I'm anxious to get through them. As I do, I'll blog about the great reads I'm sure to find.
After laughing with a friend regarding my stalker status mentioned in the last blog post, I thought an explanation might be in order.
As a student in the University of St. Andrews creative writing program, my classmates deemed my quote of the year: "I don't do drugs. I rarely drink, but occasionally it's fun to stalk people."
They suggested I use it as an opening line of a book. They published it on a web site that listed our bios. They wouldn't let me forget it.
The quote sparked from the Dunhill Links celebrity golf tournament held on the Old Course in St. Andrews in October of 2004. I heard there would be quite a group of celebrities, so my roommate and I got up early and hiked it out to the tenth hole. As we got there, a van pulled up next to us. The side door slid open and out hopped Hugh Grant. Our mouths dropped, and we followed him without a thought.
Eventually, we took a pretty horrible picture with him, and he wasn't the friendliest of blokes. But he could have been having a bad day. Who knows?
Then, we watched Dennis Quaid golf a bit. He was friendly and gorgeous. He golfed alongside Greg Kinnear, who might not be the best golfer ever. He hit the golf ball into a massive crowd of people.
Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Douglas were also there, but my best and most significant stalking experience was with Kevin Costner.
When we first saw him, he was pulling a little kid out from the crowd to take a picture with him on the green. At the next hole, he leaned against the fence and chatted with the locals. From only a few feet away, I could see a bug crawling up his shoulder to his neck. The way I saw it, if a bug was crawling on me, I'd want someone to let me know.
So I interrupted his conversation to tell him he had a bug on his shoulder, and to my incredible surprise, he leaned toward me silently asking for me to swipe it away. So I did. Then he grabbed both of my hands, and with his face inches from mine said, "Now, I better not see that bug on ebay." I laughed.
He went back to golf, and I took a few steps back from the fence to have a minor freakout. I wish I could say I was cool and nonchalant around celebrities. (As I racked my brain to find a celebrity I've been cool around, it took a few seconds, but I did not freak out in any way when I was only feet away from Prince William several times. Ha!).
Anyway, I went for a drink at the pub with my writer friends later and told them the story. They couldn't believe I just spoke to Kevin Costner like that. I should have kept my mouth shut, but at some point I mumbled, "That was nothing," and thought back to my first incident with celebrity and how cops were involved.
To hear about the genesis of Stalker Tamara, check back soon...
Showing posts with label Mystery Lover's Bookshop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mystery Lover's Bookshop. Show all posts
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Festival of Mystery - Part I
The parking lot at the Greek Orthodox Social Hall wasn't jam-packed when I arrived at the Festival of Mystery an hour before the doors opened, and I was lucky to snag a space close enough to watch the line grow...in the rain.
It's a festival tradition that the first 100 people receive a bag of free books.
People know this. They've been coming for years. They arrive early and claim their spaces in line (and by claim I mean cut in front of you). Since the rain was pouring down and there were clearly not 100 umbrellas in line, I killed a few minutes in my car.
Then as car after car after car pulled into the parking lot, my heart started beating fast, and I turned into one of those aforementioned "people" rushing from to claim a spot.
Despite the fact that I've painted mystery readers as crazies who cut in front of you (only one woman cut in front of me, and with her eyes, she challenged me to call her on it - I didn't), I had a nice chat with two Pittsburgh natives during the 45-minute wait for the doors to open. They were friendly and fantastic, as most Pittsburghers are.
And the authors were equally awesome. Here are some highlights and shoutouts:
Wendy Corsi Staub
I have it on good authority that I'm Wendy's favorite customer. Okay, maybe not, like top favorite, but I'm up there.
Earlier this year, I discovered her Lily Dale series about Calla Delaney, a teenage girl who loses her mom to a terrible accident and moves to live with her strange grandmother in a town full of psychics and mediums. I loved, loved, loved the series and picked up a few more books with psychic protagonists Monday night.
There's something cool about meeting authors. Until Monday, Wendy was a list of books, a picture on the back cover, but now, she's a beautiful, giggly, friendly, funny woman who pushes antibacterial handy wipes on her customers in the name of swine flu.
And bottom line, she's a great writer.
Jason Pinter
It's official. If I'm Wendy's favorite customer, I'm Jason's safe stalker.
I say safe because it's not creepy or anything. At least I hope not. Of all the authors I've had the pleasure of meeting, it seems I bump into Jason most often.
Last year, when I joined Backspace, I read up on the authors and was interested in Jason's series about Henry Parker, a crime-solving journalist. I ordered one of the books and loved it only to learn Jason would be in Pittsburgh days later for the 2008 Festival of Mystery.
I introduced myself, tried to keep the oh-my-gosh-I'm-talking-to-a-real-life-published-author giggles under control and bought another book in the series. Fast forward three months to the Backspace conference in New York where I said, "Hey, Jason, remember me?"
The first three books in his Henry Parker series are out, so grab them. Two more are on the way this fall and winter.
I seem to be in ramble mode today, so I'm going to cut this off and come back tomorrow to tell you about the other authors I stalked - only in a good way - at the Festival of Mystery.
P.S. C'mon Pens!
It's a festival tradition that the first 100 people receive a bag of free books.
People know this. They've been coming for years. They arrive early and claim their spaces in line (and by claim I mean cut in front of you). Since the rain was pouring down and there were clearly not 100 umbrellas in line, I killed a few minutes in my car.
Then as car after car after car pulled into the parking lot, my heart started beating fast, and I turned into one of those aforementioned "people" rushing from to claim a spot.
Despite the fact that I've painted mystery readers as crazies who cut in front of you (only one woman cut in front of me, and with her eyes, she challenged me to call her on it - I didn't), I had a nice chat with two Pittsburgh natives during the 45-minute wait for the doors to open. They were friendly and fantastic, as most Pittsburghers are.
And the authors were equally awesome. Here are some highlights and shoutouts:
Wendy Corsi Staub
I have it on good authority that I'm Wendy's favorite customer. Okay, maybe not, like top favorite, but I'm up there.
Earlier this year, I discovered her Lily Dale series about Calla Delaney, a teenage girl who loses her mom to a terrible accident and moves to live with her strange grandmother in a town full of psychics and mediums. I loved, loved, loved the series and picked up a few more books with psychic protagonists Monday night.
There's something cool about meeting authors. Until Monday, Wendy was a list of books, a picture on the back cover, but now, she's a beautiful, giggly, friendly, funny woman who pushes antibacterial handy wipes on her customers in the name of swine flu.
And bottom line, she's a great writer.
Jason Pinter
It's official. If I'm Wendy's favorite customer, I'm Jason's safe stalker.
I say safe because it's not creepy or anything. At least I hope not. Of all the authors I've had the pleasure of meeting, it seems I bump into Jason most often.
Last year, when I joined Backspace, I read up on the authors and was interested in Jason's series about Henry Parker, a crime-solving journalist. I ordered one of the books and loved it only to learn Jason would be in Pittsburgh days later for the 2008 Festival of Mystery.
I introduced myself, tried to keep the oh-my-gosh-I'm-talking-to-a-real-life-published-author giggles under control and bought another book in the series. Fast forward three months to the Backspace conference in New York where I said, "Hey, Jason, remember me?"
The first three books in his Henry Parker series are out, so grab them. Two more are on the way this fall and winter.
I seem to be in ramble mode today, so I'm going to cut this off and come back tomorrow to tell you about the other authors I stalked - only in a good way - at the Festival of Mystery.
P.S. C'mon Pens!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Updates
I've been quiet for a few days, so here are a few updates for you:
Update #1: I'm still here. In other words, despite my boring diet of fresh fruits, vegetables, and the occasional splash of flavor, I haven't wasted away.
Update #2: This is finals week. No, I'm not a student. I'm a teacher, which makes finals week worse. Students have at most five papers/assignments to write. I have about 20 exams and 40 essays to grade from two classes. I can't imagine how full-time instructors feel this week in grading exams and essays from hundreds of students!
Update #3: THE DINER ON THIRD, my YA paranormal mystery about 17-year-old ghost hunter Leia Angeletti is out on submission with several agents. I've had some positive reponses and two outright rejections. I'm hopeful, but I'm also beginning to think the manuscript could be improved in a few ways.
Update #4: The April Marathon is over, obviously. I spent some quality time with great writers, racing to a finish line of either 500 or 1,000 words, and little by little I developed the plot for Leia Angeletti's second adventure. However, revisions for THE DINER ON THIRD and query letters slowed down the momentum for book two. Although I didn't meet my goal, I'm proud to say I finished the month with 25,000 words towards my next book!
Update #5: I've been looking forward to May for a loooooooong time! Here's why:
Update #1: I'm still here. In other words, despite my boring diet of fresh fruits, vegetables, and the occasional splash of flavor, I haven't wasted away.
Update #2: This is finals week. No, I'm not a student. I'm a teacher, which makes finals week worse. Students have at most five papers/assignments to write. I have about 20 exams and 40 essays to grade from two classes. I can't imagine how full-time instructors feel this week in grading exams and essays from hundreds of students!
Update #3: THE DINER ON THIRD, my YA paranormal mystery about 17-year-old ghost hunter Leia Angeletti is out on submission with several agents. I've had some positive reponses and two outright rejections. I'm hopeful, but I'm also beginning to think the manuscript could be improved in a few ways.
Update #4: The April Marathon is over, obviously. I spent some quality time with great writers, racing to a finish line of either 500 or 1,000 words, and little by little I developed the plot for Leia Angeletti's second adventure. However, revisions for THE DINER ON THIRD and query letters slowed down the momentum for book two. Although I didn't meet my goal, I'm proud to say I finished the month with 25,000 words towards my next book!
Update #5: I've been looking forward to May for a loooooooong time! Here's why:
- May 4, Festival of Mystery hosted by Mystery Lover's Bookshop (FYI - The staff is fantastic, and they offer free shipping on any book orders more than $10, so give them a call). I'm going to embrace a dork moment and say I'm giggling inside at the opportunity to visit with writers I admire and meet new writers as well.
- May 9, Summer vacation begins. To focus my efforts on fiction, I won't be teaching this summer. Although I love my students, this is my first vacation from teaching since the fall semester of 2006. I'm looking forward to it :-)
- May 15-17, PennWriters Conference. I'm a newbie to the PennWriters organization, and the giddy dork inside will blossom mid-month to meet with agents and writers at the annual conference in Pittsburgh.
- May 24-30, New York City, here we come! My great friend and writerly colleague, Liz Hayes, and I are heading to the big city for some fun and some business. Monday to Wednesday, we'll be hanging out with awesome chicas (and I mean you Katie, Chelsea, and Kailen!!!), and Thursday to Saturday, we're attending the fantastic Backspace Conference.
- May 31, Bon anniversaire a moi! For those of you who know French, it's not my birthday. Let me spit out a cliche and say I can't believe a year has passed since my high school sweetheart and I tied the knot. But it has, and let's hope flights are on schedule, so I can rush home from New York to eat a year-old strawberry cheesecake before he eats it all on his own (and because I love him and all that)!
P.S. A.S. King's DUST OF 100 DOGS was discussed as a Great Read on this blog in March. She's an awesome writer and a cool gal, and she's running a contest on her blog this weekend. Write a 100-word story to win an autographed copy of her book. You know this giggling dork will be giving it a shot. You should too. Check it out.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
May 1 - Buy Indie Day
My brother Scott has the tendency to make me laugh. Not little giggles. Big, curl your head down toward your toes, hold your stomach, hope you don't pee your pants laughter.
He's younger than me, and we are a bit different. I loved school. He hated it. I've read a few books this month; he's read a few in the last decade. So, this one time (not at band camp) my brother told me a story about something that really troubled him.
He went to the mall with a friend, and the only place to park was outside of a Border's. It was a Saturday night. He entered through the automatic doors and passed by the cafe. According to him, this is what he saw:
"Tam, there were people in there..." he looks both ways as if the FBI is about to pounce, "and they were...reading."
So naturally, I waited for the punchline. What had offended him so?
"And...?" I asked him.
"What do you mean, 'And'? They were just sitting there. Lots of people. Just sitting there...READING! On a Saturday night!"
I said, "This past Saturday? I was there."
We always laugh about the fact that my brother went more than 20 years without knowing what actually goes on inside of a bookstore. And of course he laughs at his geeky older sister who likes to spend her free time there.
My career path might have something to do with that.
Now that I've shared my story, I want to encourage all of you to cause my brother curious frustration by going to your local independent bookstores Friday to buy a book.
No catch.
It's quite simple. May 1st has been declared Buy Indie Day. I'm not really sure who made the declaration, but I'll go along with it. Jason Pinter, who writes a series of thrillers centered around the exploits of reporter Henry Parker, blogged about Buy Indie Day, and ironically, Jason will be in Pittsburgh this week as well.
I should mention my Indie of choice is Mystery Lover's Bookshop in Oakmont. The store's 14th annual Festival of Mystery is on for Monday, May 4th. More than 40 authors will attend (personal favorites are Jason, Nancy Martin, and Wendy Corsi Staub). It's a great event. If you're interested, tickets are available in advance at the store on Allegheny River Boulevard or at the door. Early birds get a free bag of books, and there's usually a line. The event's from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Greek Orthodox Social Hall, 12 Washington Avenue in Oakmont. Don't miss it!
And don't forget to Buy Indie this Friday. To find a independent bookstore near you, click here.
He's younger than me, and we are a bit different. I loved school. He hated it. I've read a few books this month; he's read a few in the last decade. So, this one time (not at band camp) my brother told me a story about something that really troubled him.
He went to the mall with a friend, and the only place to park was outside of a Border's. It was a Saturday night. He entered through the automatic doors and passed by the cafe. According to him, this is what he saw:
"Tam, there were people in there..." he looks both ways as if the FBI is about to pounce, "and they were...reading."
So naturally, I waited for the punchline. What had offended him so?
"And...?" I asked him.
"What do you mean, 'And'? They were just sitting there. Lots of people. Just sitting there...READING! On a Saturday night!"
I said, "This past Saturday? I was there."
We always laugh about the fact that my brother went more than 20 years without knowing what actually goes on inside of a bookstore. And of course he laughs at his geeky older sister who likes to spend her free time there.
My career path might have something to do with that.
Now that I've shared my story, I want to encourage all of you to cause my brother curious frustration by going to your local independent bookstores Friday to buy a book.
No catch.
It's quite simple. May 1st has been declared Buy Indie Day. I'm not really sure who made the declaration, but I'll go along with it. Jason Pinter, who writes a series of thrillers centered around the exploits of reporter Henry Parker, blogged about Buy Indie Day, and ironically, Jason will be in Pittsburgh this week as well.
I should mention my Indie of choice is Mystery Lover's Bookshop in Oakmont. The store's 14th annual Festival of Mystery is on for Monday, May 4th. More than 40 authors will attend (personal favorites are Jason, Nancy Martin, and Wendy Corsi Staub). It's a great event. If you're interested, tickets are available in advance at the store on Allegheny River Boulevard or at the door. Early birds get a free bag of books, and there's usually a line. The event's from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Greek Orthodox Social Hall, 12 Washington Avenue in Oakmont. Don't miss it!
And don't forget to Buy Indie this Friday. To find a independent bookstore near you, click here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
