This past weekend I spent three days signing “The Advocate’s Betrayal” at the Barnes and Noble in Del Amo Shopping Center in Torrance, CA and I met some wonderful people. I also encountered a few unusual and interesting folks.
One very nice woman asked me to sign a book for her which I did. But the conversation with her quickly turned to a wonderful gentleman she had met at a signing at the store last year. She said, “I tried his book and I really liked it so I think I’ll try yours. His name was Jeff Shirt or something like that.” I knew right off it was Jeff Sherratt. She wasn’t aware of his latest novel, Detour to Murder. When I told her about it, she laid my book down and went upstairs to the mystery department. I sat the book aside in hopes she would return thinking maybe I shouldn’t have told her about Jeff’s. About twenty minutes later she came back and told me she couldn’t find his book and asked for my help. So I went up the escalator with her and found it on the “New Releases” shelf. She was afraid to take the escalator back down (she told me she’s okay going up, but gets real nervous going down). When I offered to stand in front of her she said she would be okay with that. She was so sweet. And she was just tickled to get Jeff’s book. At that point, I didn’t much care that she had left mine behind. I watched her as she went to the register and stood in line. A few minutes later she returned to my table and said, “Oops, I forgot something,” and picked up her signed copy.
In contrast to that a man stopped and looked at my book. He read the back and saw that I was an attorney. Suddenly his voice got very loud and he started ranting that “lawyers and liberals have ruined this country.” Needless to say he didn’t buy my book.
A couple who previously purchased my books while I was signing in Long Beach saw that I was at Torrance and stopped in to say hello on the way to a soccer game. Another gentleman offered to bring me a cup of coffee from the cafe and yet another gave me a paper heart that he had torn out of a napkin while sitting in the cafe. These are the things that really make me smile when I’m signing.
Teresa
https://www.teresaburrell.com