Willie has a bus, I have a Toyota

I’m sure it’s the same with young girls as it is with boys.  We dreamed about being baseball or other sports stars or rock and roll singers, both with thousands of adoring fans clamoring for autographs.  We even practiced signing our names or we made up names we wanted to use.  It’s no different if we are writers.

I am fortunate in that I occasionally get invited to do a book signing at a book store, library or some other venue.  I don’t take it lightly and I prepare for it the best way I know how.  It’s an appearance and I have to treat it like I would if I was Willie Nelson.

Willie is one of my hero’s, not only because he’s eighty-five years old, drinks like a fish, smokes an occasional doobie, plays golf, been married several times and hangs out with Woody Harrelson in Hawaii, but because he still does all of those things and he’s still alive.  That’s a goal we could all shoot for. Except the part about being married several times. Once is enough.

When Willie hits the road, he has people who load his bus with all of his life support systems. His tequila, his smokes, his pills, lotions, braces and supports, hair products, hats, head bands and another case of tequila…just in case.  Oh, and he has his band or his family load on board as well.  If you’ve ever been to a Willie Nelson concert, you know what I mean by all this.  I’ve been to several and I remember one in particular in Maryland.  It was outdoors and I thought the fog had rolled in.  You could say you were just like Bill Clinton. I didn’t inhale, I just breathed as I floated to the stage.

Now that we’ve got Willie on the road, what about me?  Glad you asked.  I don’t have a bus, I’m not yet eighty-five, I can’t afford a case of tequila, stopped smoking years ago, don’t need hair products or head bands. What I do have is a Toyota.  Actually, I have three of them.  A Tacoma pick-up, a Solara convertible and a      . What was that?  You didn’t hear me.  I said….a…..Prius.   I know. But I get fifty miles to the gallon.

Okay, I head for the book signing.  I take books unless the book store orders them ahead of time.  I have a large banner I put behind the table where they put me.  I have business cards, some handouts on all my books and a nice pen to sign with.  I also carry some index cards so people who want it signed can write the name or what they want it to say.  I’ve made mistakes in the past and if you want it signed to Betty and I hear Eddie, I just lost a sale and a book.

One of the best things about book signings is that there are usually several of us at the venue at the same time and most writers have a little dish or box on their table with candy in it.  The last time my table mate had some Belgium chocolates and I made a fool of myself sneaking them out of the bowl.

So…bottom line. Willie prepares for his appearances and so do I, albeit on a much smaller scale. Next time you see that I’m doing a book signing, stop by and we can see what kind of candy the others are giving away.