Fly on the Wall

I'm still pretty excited about the Books Lost and Found group, so I made a trip to another used bookstore yesterday. In addition to finding several books for others, I found 10 books for myself, including Cheyenne McCray's Wildfire.



If you had been a fly on the wall, you would have heard the following conversation.

Employee #1, whom I see regularly in the store; we often engage in small talk: (Calculates the order) Wow, that's a different cover.

Alyssa: Yes, it is unique.

Employee #1: (Picks it up to examine it more closely) Yes, it's . . . it's . . . I don't know how to describe it. (Calls out to employee #2, whom I've never seen before) Hey, check out this cover.

Employee #2: Yeah, I've seen it. It's pretty weird.

Alyssa: (Wonders if this is employee #2's usual approach to selling books) It's an e-book.

Employee #2: Huh?

Alyssa: (Realizes she knows far more about romance novels than employee #2 does) It's a print version of an e-book. I recognize the author's name and thought I'd try it.

Employee #1: You know the author?

Alyssa: (Decides the term "blog" would be a bit complicated to explain) I recognize the name because she has an online journal.

Employee #1: She does?

Alyssa: (Realizes she knows far more about the online romance community than employee #1 does) Yes. I have an online journal too, actually, where I write about the books I read.

Employee #2: Huh. I think I remember seeing another weird cover like that one. (Goes off to find it)

Alyssa: (Marvels at this new selling approach) Uh, OK.

Employee #1: I think it's an interesting cover. The people look . . . almost metallic.

Alyssa: (Wonders if employee #1 will get the joke) Yes, they do appear somewhat statuesque.

Employee #2: (Returns) Actually, that's the book. I thought there was another one like it, but that's the one.

Alyssa: (Avoids rolling eyes)

Employee #1: You'll have to tell us if you like the book. It looks pretty interesting from the cover.

Alyssa: (Notices employee #2's conspicuous silence and wonders if there will be a job opening at the store soon) Sure. I'll definitely tell you how I like it.

Employee #1: Great. It was good to see you.

Alyssa: (Wonders if the RWA endorses this bookstore, but looks forward to reading the book anyway) Yeah, you too.

Alyssa