The Inkblotter at The King’s English

Our Design Bella’s Wedding Dress Competition is popping up all over the place, and for good reason! We’ve got fabulous entries pouring in — I do not envy the judges their job.

Barbie Bella at The King's English Bookshop

The entries will officially be on display starting tomorrow, Tuesday July 22nd, but if you’ve been by the store then you’ve already seen our two 3D entries: a full-size

Full Size Bella's Wedding Dress at TKE

wedding dress and Barbie Bella (note to Matel: you saw it here first!).

I’ll be posting more pictures of the entries starting tomorrow, and they’ll all be on display until the PAR-TAY (!!!!) on Friday, August 1st.

Also, yours truly will be on Channel 2 (KUTV) on Friday at 5 p.m. talking about how awesome the books are and how cool our party will be. Unless they decide to edit me out, which is totally fine by me; I’m even considering not watching it, since there is probably nothing more heinously embarrassing than making a fool of yourself on TV. Unless it’s on YouTube.

Ann Cannon at The King's English Bookshop

So TKE hosted an event for my new young adult novel, The Loser’s Guide to Life and Love, and seriously I felt like a debutante at my own debutante bowl, except that I’m 52. And also I wasn’t wearing a corsage.

Anyway, it was a GREAT evening (thanks, Jenn!) with all kinds of amazing and personal touches–from the dragonflies on the banner to the icy cold cans of Dr. Pepper to the readers’ theater (the kids were amazing!) to Anne Holman’s sweet and funny introduction.  Plus there were actual people in attendance. PEOPLE!  No kidding. I’ve had events in the past for other books where nobody came.  So thank you, everybody, for being there.

Sometimes readers ask which of my books I like the best.  It’s a hard question to answer because your books are like your children:  you love them all equally but some days (truth be told) you like the kid who cleans up his bedroom without being asked better than you like the kid who just totaled your new car.   I will say this, though.  I never ever had more fun writing a book than I did writing Loser.  I think that’s because I wrote about things I love: summer nights in Salt Lake City, my Avenues neighborhood, the moon (and Goodnight Moon, too!), sweet and silly teenage boys, overly affectionate cats, old movies, party food, flowers, romance.  I call Loser my happiness book, and while I don’t know if it’s the best book I’ve ever written, it certainly holds the distinction of being closest to my heart.

Last night was a blast! Our Midsummer Night’s Party for Ann Cannon was tons of fun; Ann gave us the full story behind The Loser’s Guide to Life and Love, then we had a cast reading, and then folks lined up to get their books signed, chat with each other and with Ann, and had baba ganoush, hummus, and baklava from Mazza plus Dr. Pepper (Ann’s favorite drink!) to celebrate. I’m pretty sure I can safely say that fun was had by all. But just in case you doubt me, here is a slideshow (hopefully) of pictures from last night:

• We are on the cutting edge of social media! For a (nearly!) 31 year old store, I’d say that’s pretty good.
• Dean Bakopoulos is crowned ‘Winner of the Conference’ at Westminster’s Writers@Work. I think his ‘miscreant’ shirt, purchased from yours truly, is not only accurate but a great complement to his, ahem, accoutrements. On his next visit to Salt Lake, we’ll have a sash made up for him. That’ll be a reading you won’t want to miss! Note: I have to add that I think that Kim Addonizio deserved an award as well — maybe a golden harmonica? — for her amazing spontaneous harmonica performance at her reading; an unforgettable moment, I assure you!
• We are celebrating the pants off Indie Week this year: a 17.76% discount off pretty much everything in the store, plus a special 40% off section on our patio; Indie-tastic handouts celebrating the ABA’s new IndieBound initiative; Local First Utah directories, bumper stickers, et al; displays of our favorite local authors and books on the importance of independent businesses; even the store is decked out!

Folks, I just met my VERY FIRST INTERNET CELEBRITY! WOOT, as they say! I am still coming down from the enormous high of seeing nearly 200 people, most of whom had never even HEARD of our bookstore before, much less set foot in it only to wait in an hour-and-a-half-long line and take a tour of the receiving department and our parking lot (pictures here).

Yes, and it was all due to Heather Armstrong, a.k.a. Dooce. She was nice enough to come and do a signing for her newly released Things I Learned About My Dad (in Therapy). And not only did Heather Armstrong come to the store, but HER ENTIRE FAMILY came too! Yes! Mom, Dad, Jon, her sister September, and a bevy of (I’m assuming) neices and friends. And not only did they come, but they mingled! Her mom went up and down the line, introducing herself to everyone and (again, I assume) checking for right-wing terrorists. Because you never know; bloggers are, in certain circles, public enemy numero uno. But I’m proud to say that TKE remained incident free, and I didn’t have to use the SLCPD dispatch numbers I wrote on my arm in case of rioting.

There is now a photo of Chuck, in purple Teletubby regalia, pinned above the screen where I write this. I am contemplating spending the weekend looking for the finest in purple frames, especially because on the back it contains a signature. Heather B. Armstrong, it says (yet another assumption, because this happened at the end of a very long day for her and her hand had to be only two more signatures away from falling off).

I love my job!

Oh, and in case you missed it, I inflicted some ritual TKE author event abuse on Heather and made her sign a bunch of copies of the book for the store. I recommend claiming yours soon, who knows how long they’ll last?