Pitching Sessions--First Time Wearing A Collared Shirt In Months...

Last week I got dressed up, of sorts. I needed to attend a meeting and I wanted things to be a little different than when I participated in other on-line meetings. This time, I was representing something other than myself.

And, I didn't know the people I would be meeting.

I haven't done too many on-line meetings, a few here and there, a couple a week. I know many who are holding a couple meetings every day. Not me. When I normally log into a zoom meeting, the main concern I've had is to be outside of earshot of the dog barking. The best place for that in our house is our unfinished basement. No, this time I wanted to make a good impression, so I went to our local library and used their conference room.

On Friday I was representing Immortal Works Press and I was acting in the official capacity of Acquisitions Editor. The meeting was for pitches of new authors to see if the publisher would be interested in their stories.

I don't have a lot of experience with pitch sessions. In fact, this was the first time listening to others as they pitched to us their stories. I've only pitched a story of my own one time. That happened almost a decade ago.

I've got to be honest--I enjoyed better being on the side that makes decisions than the side that's hoping they like my story. That's only natural.

I heard three pitches, three completely different story ideas, different genres for different audiences. Who knows...I may have heard the storyline for a bestseller. I know both the publisher and the author would love for that to happen.

Friday was fun. I realized, after coming home and changing, that it was the first time since maybe the beginning of March that I wore a shirt with a collar. All those shirts have just sat in our little closet. The way things are going, I may never have to wear any of them again.

Time will tell.

So Long Library...You Were Great

Tonight I worked my last shift at the library. I went through the duties as I had the weeks prior, but this time I knew it would be the last time. I'm going to miss that place.

The Awakening, by Michael Carroll was the last book I checked it--thought I'd take a picture of it. I only began the job last April, but it feels like I've been there longer. Not in a "it's a bad job so it feels like I've worked there forever" kind of way, but in a "I've gotten to know some great people and had a wonderful time doing it" kind of way.

Decisions are made based on benefit vs. sacrifice. There were many benefits to the job. I worked with amazing people. The patrons were fantastic. And I was surrounded by books--that's like crack cocaine for an aspiring author, especially when some of the books you check out are written by friends. That's a cool feeling--imagine if those books were mine.

Being surrounded by books is a double-edged sword. And all those benefits are overshadowed by the fact that when I'm at work, I can't write. I've written so little since beginning that job, and seeing all those books only reminded me of what is possible, what can be done. It's as if the words teased and mocked as well as encouraged and showed glimpses of what could be--all at the same time.

Because of some things that happened, I no longer need to do the second job, at least for now. Maybe one day I'll return, maybe not. But if I never do I'll always remember my time at the library fondly. Thank you for the opportunity. I'm glad I took it. I'm going to miss that place.

So, You're Telling Me There's A Chance...My Books Could End Up In The Library!

My co-worker at the library and I were talking about one of the patrons that frequents the establishment.

"He's a writer, you know?" I, in fact, did not know. "Yeah, he's self-published. He's even got a few books on the shelf."

"Books that you can check out?" I asked.

"Yeah. He sometimes asks me if I've checked them out and read them--what he writes isn't really my style."

I wasn't so much concerned with that author's writing style as I was excited.

"Can anyone's books be put into the library system?"

"Sure," he said. "You can submit a request for the library to stock a book--it's no big deal. They may not do it, but that's probably how he got his books on the shelf."

Phineas, I know what we're going to do today!

Okay, maybe not today, but soon. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

Ever Read Francis Thompson's "The Hound Of Heaven? Probably Not...

One of the responsibilities I have in my second job is to organized the bookshelves. This includes not only finding and fixing any books that have been incorrectly put on the shelves, but to make sure they look presentable to the public. I will re-shelve out-of-order books and also bring to the front any books that have been somehow pushed back and are otherwise hidden.

That's how I found Francis Thompson's The Hound of Heaven. I have never before set eyes upon this particular book, and there's a very good chance, neither have you. I even checked the back page. Now, I know that the library converted to a barcode check in/check out system probably 25-30 years ago, so I cannot say with certainty that this book has not been checked out since July 7, 1981. But there's a good chance it hasn't. Especially since the only other time it was recorded being checked out was when the year of the check out was not identified.

No, this little book has been hiding among it's taller, and probably more popular literary siblings. Wikipedia (a completely reliable source...) says the Poet Thompson was influential at the end of the Nineteenth Century, even J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a paper on this book in 1914.

An author can be discouraged by many things. Not only is there the story that's constantly fighting the author inside his/her mind, but there's so many books being written nowadays, and millions of books that have already been written. Will anyone ever read mine?

But if it's written and published, someone may just pick up a copy almost twenty-five years after someone else did and blog about.

Probably not.

Starting A Part-Time Gig...

It's interesting, but about the time I really got interested in reading and writing, I've spent less and less time in libraries. Had my new obsession occurred a decade or two earlier, I would have spent hours and hours among the physical books, magazines, and periodicals.

I guess the internet took away that joy, too.

But, funny how things happen. How, when you put in an application to work part-time at your local library and you give it time, you just might end up as one of those guys (or gals...) that wanders around the library with a cart full of books replacing the items we all at one time took out to either look at or leave the building with.

I thought having a part-time job would be so easy, especially after being in play after play for the past two years. It turns out, it's not, at least, not in the beginning. When we do plays we usually learn the music first. This involves all of us sitting around and listening to the music director play our parts. Then we sing.

This is my first week as a shelver and I didn't do a lot of sitting (and zero time singing...). In fact, I spent almost all my shifts on my feet. With plays, when it's not your scene being rehearsed, you sit and wait. When working part-time at the library, it's always your scene.

I hope these comments do not come off as complaints. I'm just expressing how my expectations differ from the realities of the new job. I've even had to take different busses to work--no big deal, just more planning.

But as I wheel my cart among the patrons and bookshelves, it's wonderful to see books I've read, and better yet, books written by people I know. Yes, it's a part-time gig, and I am among friends.

Dave Butler's Books...Now Available At My Local Library!

The other day I checked out our local's library selection of new books. Little did I know that among the new listings a series written by a local author was found. I'm happy to say Dave Butler's Rock Band Fights Evil series can now be downloaded from the Davis County Library.

I immediately downloaded the first book in the series, Hellhound On My Trail and began reading it the very next day. I've known Dave for about two and a half years and I've heard about this series for almost as long. Imagine if you will a rock band that is damned to hell then given an assignment in order to redeem themselves. Okay, I might have got the gist of the series wrong--Dave tells it much better than I do (of course he does--he wrote it...). 

I've only read a couple of chapters so far, but I have to praise Dave for making the bass player more than just a butt of a series of unfunny (maybe occasionally funny...) jokes about how lame are bass players. I was once a bass player in a garage band and I can tell you that bass players the the "redheaded stepchildren" of the rock and roll world.

I'm glad my library decided to pick up Dave's series. I'm glad it was available to download. I'm glad I met Dave at the first ever Salt Lake Comic Con and that we've been friends since. And I'm glad there's a series out there about hell-bound rock and roll players where the bassist has an interesting and important role in story.