My book signing at Barnes and Noble in Nashua, New Hampshire was memorable.  My stepdaughter, Martha and her family, pictured above, who were visiting from Raleigh, North Carolina, accompanied her father and me to the event. Since she and her family members have been extraordinarily supportive of my writing endeavors, I was silently hoping for a big crowd intent on purchasing my book.

I woke up in the morning to a cold, howling wind, which I believed wouldn’t mitigate the potential number of book shoppers from 1:00-2:00 at the B&N’s Nashua’s branch. Immediately upon arriving, I set up my table by arranging the books, and carefully placing additional pens and books in my close proximity.  At 1:00 when I had successfully persuaded some interested shoppers into purchasing my book, the electricity suddenly went off.  Since the cash registers were no longer functional, moments later, the manager echoed over the loud speaker, “Everybody should evacuate the store.  It will be closed for at least forty-five minutes due to a widespread power outage.”  At that point, a determined shopper pushed her way through the exiting crowd, introduced herself as Debbie, the sister of one of my best friends from Hollis Elementary School, who I hadn’t seen in sixty years. Debbie explained that she wanted a signed copy of my book for her sister, Nancie, who now lived in California.  Indelible memories including Nancie’s visit to Nantucket when my parents caught us sneaking out for a midnight ocean swim and our many sleepovers when we devised surreptitious pseudonyms that we carved on the yellow paint on the inside of my bed frame as we swore allegiance to one another forever. These and more memories came flooding back to me as Debbie and I covered more than a half of century of living while the employees were attempting to shoo us out of the store.  Unfortunately with the entire ruckus, Debbie’s forced evacuation preceded mine by several minutes! I was the last nonemployee ejected from the store, after which they locked the door securely behind me.

When I finally reached the shaded parking lot, a cold, howling wind almost knocked me over. My family was huddled together seeking warmth in the only available small postage stamp of sun left on the tarmac. Surrounding my family were both friends and strangers waiting to gain admittance to the store in hopes of purchasing my book. I luckily had brought some of my own books, which I sold from my trunk, while several verbally abusive customers exiting the parking lot yelled at the crowd to get out of their way

A few minute before 2:00, the electricity miraculously reappeared and the few lingering customers were allowed back into the store. I ensconced myself back at my table for the remaining ten minutes and was able to sell several more books to the hardcore parking lot crowd.

Although the entire event was a comedy of errors, we all had fun! In spite of the discomfort of the chilling wind, my family was impressed with the number of diehard patrons and they were able to visit with old friends and meet many new ones as well. I personally benefited from this unusual occasion, as I sold every one of my books and none of the proceeds from my outdoor sales had to go to B&N.  Also, I am now in touch with Nancie, my childhood accomplish, by email! We plan to reconnect in September and I can’t wait!