Inspirations

Well, I've finished all of my Mother's Day signings for Behind The Screen last week. And I must say, they turned out much better than I expected! I sold out again. This time at Borders! I have to admit, when my signings started back up around the end of April, I wasn't looking forward to them. Except to get rid of inventory so that I can concentrate more on my next novel. Although I should've been glad that after one year, my books are still on bookshelves (of major chain stores) I was a little nervous because I had only done a couple of signings at major bookstores this year in Houston. I didn't do any signings at the major chains last year, because by the time I tried setting them up, most places were either already booked up months in advance, or didn't do signings for new and unknown authors. I found out later that there were tons of other major chain stores I could have set signings up with, but hey I didn't know. So, I had a better plan this year and I'm getting into all the stores I want now. Anyway, I started off in Houston, and I only did very well at one (B. Dalton). The other one was at another Borders and I barely sold what was in their inventory. Which was only a couple of copies (they told me to bring extras since they hadn't ordered). Embarrasing! I was starting to think that people (readers) who visit these kinds of stores are snooty and just aren't interested in newbies like myself. NOT TRUE! I realize now that I just had a bad day that's all. Plus, it does depend on how much you promote and the booksellers too. Some of them can be quite helpful. Others will let you fend for yourself. One thing that Borders does is, they set up chairs for an audience. I was worried that I wouldn't have an audience. But I did! Lots of people sat down and wanted to hear me speak! :) Here, people wanted to hear all about my book, my writing, and everything saying that I inspire them, but them just being there inspired me. And a couple of the booksellers even sat down in the audience. One even bought my book! And you know they can read all of the copies they want for free! :) God I'll never forget that day for as long as I live.

I just finished reading Kimberla Lawson Roby's Too Much of a Good Thing. That girl can write her a$$ off! I think she outdid herself with this one. I can't wait for my copy of The Best Kept Secret to come in. Kim is another inspiration to me because she also started out self-publishing. At the end of her book, she tells why she made the decision to become a writer. Wow! she too had been working in the corporate world for years before the career change. Just as I. I've read at least 5 author's bios who left the corporate world after so many years, and went on to become very successful in the book industry. Such inspirations! I've been reading a lot of books lately. I love James Patterson too. Had to put him on hold though because all that killing was starting to get too gruesome. Kim's book was a nice change. Well, I guess I better get back to writing now. I think I'll get quite a bit done this weekend. I'm feeling a little more motivated now.

Sold Out!

Well, I had a very good weekend! I sold out at my book signing at Walden Books! My supervisor came too. He bought my book when it first came out last year, but he's always supporting me. He's so sweet. He showed up with a photo copy of me asking me to autograph it! LOL! Made a good appearance to one lady who was checking my book out. Then he went overboard so she figured he was a friend of mine. Tooooo cute! LOL! I loved it! Gotta love friends like that. Wait, there was one book left that I saved for one of the mall workers. But still... not bad at all! This is a really big deal to sell out at a mega chain store. I love it when I sell out at the Essence reporting African American bookstores too. I've sold out at a couple of them, but they weren't Essence reporting stores. I almost made the Essence bestseller list one month after Behind The Screen was released. That was when I made the Cush City (in Houston) bestseller list. Anyway, I'm really trying to help clear out inventory at the bookstores since I'm working on my next novel. After this weekend (May 6th and 7th) I won't be promoting Behind The Screen as much. My agent is really close to getting me a deal. Once that happens, I'll have to pull whatever copies are left on the bookstore shelves. Shouldn't be too difficult to do. Just a phone call to my wholesalers, distributors, and the bookstores. Only thing is, it may take me awhile to get to all of the independent stores. Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Craig and I went to see XXX State of The Union. The action was off the chain! Very good! Ice Cube was OK in acting--seemed a little uncomfortable with some of the lines though. I think Xhibit (sp?) did a better job acting. He seemed more natural. I'm glad they gave Ice Cube a big break like this though. This should take his career even higher. My favorite line was when Samuel Jackson said "I told you you should've killed that bit$#!" Too good! He should win an Oscar for that one. You'd have to see the movie to know why. William Dafoe was great! I call him the Green Goblin (or whatever) from Spider Man. Every time I see him I think of Spider Man. Some of the action was a little over the top, but action packed from the word go!