Well, it finally happened - I'd heard about it, but found it hard to believe until it happened to me.
While at my booksigning on Saturday, I was sitting at a table, stacks of books in front of me, with a tabletop poster of my cover prominently displayed (see post below for a refresher of what said cover looks like). A woman came up, glanced at my books and the poster, and said, "Oh, what kinds of books are these?"
I'd barely gotten the words "paranormal romance" out of my mouth when she interrupted me with a wave of the hand, a toss of the head, and a snide, "Oh, I don't read books like that."
*Um... hello.... do you see the covers right in front of you? Is there really any mystery involved in what they might be about?*
And then, without missing a beat, she stood there chatting about how she used to live across the street from a well-known romance author who shall remain nameless, the author's husband, the author's children, and the fact that her house was so over the top that it was clearly the kind of house a romance author would live in. HUH? (Did it have hearts dripping from the windows? Cover models in flowing white shirts and tight leather pants coming and going? Was it painted lavender and trimmed with lace? I didn't bother to ask.)
Luckily for me, the author sitting next to me had clearly dealt with people like this woman before, and managed to chat pleasantly with her while I did my best to pretend she was invisible. :-) Then she finally walked away without buying a book, having, in my humble opinion, wasted ten minutes of my life simply so she could brag about knowing a famous author who she clearly considered beneath her!
People are weird. Ever met any of them? :-)
Monday, March 30, 2009
People Are Weird
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10 comments:
LOL Your story makes me think of a scene from Seinfeld.
ELAINE: I will never understand people.
JERRY: They're the worst.
And yes, I meet people like that all the time. Those who come pop right up in the book store cafe while I'm scribbling away in my notebook with comments like: "You're just so engrossed I hafta know what you're writing!"
"I'm making a hit list and you've taken top honors. Aren't you glad you asked?" *Wicked evil grin*
"I'm making a hit list and you've taken top honors. Aren't you glad you asked?" *Wicked evil grin*
That is a GREAT answer, unless they're 6'2", really cute, and are just trying to engage you in conversation! LOL
"That is a GREAT answer, unless they're 6'2", really cute, and are just trying to engage you in conversation!"
Unfortunately that only happens in my fictional writings, never real life. Dagnabbit! :)
Brings back memories of standing in my South Tampa driveway washing my car, wearing a bikini top and denim cut off shorts. A car drove by...backs up to end of my driveway...I approach it thinking the woman needs directions. Wearing the usual South Tampa "uniform" of a jumper dress, repleat with the helmet head overly sprayed page boy, she says "honey, we don't do that in South Tampa". ("that" meaning standing in the driveway dressed as I was)... I just stood there aghast as she drove away...kicking myself later for not being quick enough to respond "honey, if I looked like you, I wouldn't stand in the driveway dressed like this either".... A most unfortunate missed opportunity in life....P.Lamb
I'm quite sure she was just jealous, P!
And yes, I wish I'd been quicker on the retort, too. When she said, "Oh, I don't read books like that!", I should've said, "Why? No pictures? No big print?" LOL
ROFL - Catie - great answer and Terri - love your 'if only I'd thought of it quickly enough' answer.
Oh yes - come across them all the time. Along with the 'I only read trashy novels on beach holidays' brigade and the 'sniff at Mills & Boon' brigade. And I wish I was able to come up with the perfect response at the time *sigh*.
Oh and Terri, it was her loss. What a shame - but more Sammy for me *VEG*
'I only read trashy novels on beach holidays'
To which you should say, "Spend a lot of time at the beach, then, do you?" or "Oh, that's when I catch up on my reading about subquantum physics."
:-)
And yes, she's missing out on our boy Sammy, isn't she? LOL
*sigh* I miss him already. :-(
"Cover models in flowing white shirts and tight leather pants coming and going"
Oooh ooohhhhhhh I WANT NEIGHBORS LIKE THAT!!!
She probably does read "books like that" just with a book jacket on so people cannot see she is reading them.
Once she got a load of Joe she would be hooked for life! Guaranteed!
Oooh ooohhhhhhh I WANT NEIGHBORS LIKE THAT!!!
Nope, sorry. All the cover models hang out at my house, don't you know! :-)
Once she got a load of Joe she would be hooked for life! Guaranteed!
I think I'm going to have to do a poll on my blog one day, to see how many readers are in the "Joe" camp vs. the "Sammy" camp! From the emails I get, readers seem evenly divided, and I go back and forth myself! LOL
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