signing and reading post mortem

Okay, I'm caffeinated enough to do the post mortem on the signing, so let us begin at the beginning.

Turnout was light but aggressive...I'd rather have a handfull who are there to buy than an army of browsers. Some old friends who had never before seen me do a public read showed up, as well as my nephew, Bobby (no other family representation). We'll give this aspect a "B".

Sales, brisk, solid. The merchant was pleased. Another "B".

Follow up, good. I have been asked back for at least two more visits, and helped cement a reading for a friend. "A-".

My performance. Er...let's call it a "C"...I can think f a few thousand ways I could have done better in the reading, but that's me. I did manage to do my first public reading of "Melissa: A Remembrance" and gave what may have been one of my best readings ever of "Cithara Song, strummed lightly as the sun leaps the horizon".

Connection? I had several who bought express interest in getting on my newsletter mailing list and wanting to buy THE MORGANTOWN SUITE POEMS. This is a very good sign. Oh, and the audience interest in upcoming release of 101 GREAT EROTIC POEMS was...er...warm and moist. This is an "A".

Media. Pre-event - "C+". Cutting and pasting press releases is not journalism. Event coverage? If there were any media people there they were hiding behind the sex manuals in the corner. "F". A merged grade of "D+".

Overall...a soft "B"...better than average, but the (a)pathetic showing by media dragged hard on it.

Oh, ambience? Decent...some nice people, some lovely ladies, some clever isnights, I even got my Barnes and Noble discount card from the server I have not been flirting with for the last few weeks. I gave her a copy of "PanthEon" (autographed, of course) to thank her for her attentiveness.

I also managed to sum up, in one simple statement, what a "ronin in the temple of aphrodite" signifies: A romantic without a lover.

Now that made it all worth while. Well, that and the spiffy haircut (no, I kept the tail...)