Pacific Northwest. Check.

In a couple hours I'll be boarding a plane back to DC and I can count my trip to Oregon a success. Shaindel (rhymes with candle) and I made the four hour trek to Portland from Pendleton yesterday to read at In Other Words Bookstore. If you are in the Portland area and have never been to the store, please check them out. They are a marvelous, eclectic feminist bookstore, and unfortunately there are very few left in the country.

This was actually a much smaller reading than the first night. I haven't quite figured out the formula for how these things should work. You would think that being in a larger city would yield more people, but Shaindel reminded me that in smaller towns people have far less entertainment choices, so when something different or interesting is an option they will definitely check it out. Good point. For what the reading lacked in size, they made up for it by buying books. Every sale brings the Press closer to meeting the goal of selling 5,000 books in a year.

Our next reading is October 5, 2008 @ 2:00pm at The Writer's Center in Bethesda, Maryland. If you are in the area come by.

Until later!
Michelle
www.girlchildpress.com

Pendleton. It Kicks!

That's the town motto! I love it! Pendleton is definitely a cowboy town. In fact, I missed the annual "Round-Up" by a week. I'm told the entire social calendar for September factors in the influx of cowboys and rodeo people in to Pendleton. My first impression of the city - it is a beautiful, but eerily quiet, place.

I'm glad folks weren't too worn out from the rodeo to come out and attend the first official reading for the book. I'm sure contributor Shaindel Beers (that's her above) had something to do with that. We had a full house - in library terms - and it was a fun and relaxed reading. Shout out to Mary Finney (librarian extraordinaire) for the juice and cookies, and the very sweet certificate.

We had a robust discussion about women writers, how to encourage young writers, writing and trauma, and what it takes to operate and keep a press on track - while working a "good government job".

What it sometimes takes, is bringing a heavy-ass shipment of anthologies across the country to readings. I had originally booked the Portland reading first, so their books were shipped well in advance. By the time the Pendleton reading was set up, I decided to bring the books with me to make sure they got here on time. I was definitely not looking forward to lugging them back to D.C.

Well, the Pendleton folks did not disappoint. During the book signing portion of the program, they bought everything in sight! It is always great to see the anthologies being purchased in twos and threes and fours! It was also wonderful to hear why folks were purchasing the books: to encourage a young writer in their life, to help someone get through a traumatic period, to introduce themselves to new voices.

I am sort of bummed that I don't have any Growing Up Girl copies left to take to the Portland reading tonight, but it's a nice problem to have.

Shaindel and I head off to Portland later this afternoon - it is about four hours away from Pendleton - and I look forward to a great reading there as well. I'll report back tomorrow.

Until then!
Michelle
www.girlchildpress.com