I have done maybe 25 book signings in my brief career. Hardly makes me a pro. Someone like Stephen King probably does 25 in a week. Yet, I seem to have encountered a disproportionate amount of weird people and general strangeness. Maybe it's the fact the title of my book has the word bizarre in it? Is this all it takes to become a freak magnet? For example at these signings I have met-
*The religious guy who told me God had sent him to talk to me- about what we never discussed. Evidently it wasn't my book (he didn't buy one).
*The other religious guy who talked to me a lot about salvation and Jesus...later he showed me the stack of pin-up and nude art books he was taking in the cafe to peruse.
*The lady who tried to bargain the price of my book with me. This was in a Barnes & Noble where we sell them for what the store says we sell them for, and even after I explained that she still tried to bargain. Her reason, her leg had gotten mangled in some sort of work accident. She showed me the damage and said that because her worker's comp was so low I should sell her the book for eight bucks cheaper than the cover price...yet she had one of those $6 caramel coffees in her hand the whole time.
*The guy who wanted to know if Osceola was a good guy or bad guy? This was a grown man, mind you, easily in the middle age range. I went into a whole spiel about it was relative- the Native Americans at the time thought he was a hero, but the US military leaders thought he was a "bad guy" and wanted him captured. However, even many of his opponents thought he was brave and admired his courage, and the plight of the Seminole tribe as a whole was viewed somewhat sympathetically by many on the opposing side. His response? He blinked, and asked again "So was he a bad guy or a good guy?' I was dumbfounded. I said "Bad to some, good to others." That seemed to answer his curiosity. This made me think back to when I was 10, when my friends and I would play some silly game with plastic guns or swords and we were divided up into "good guys" and "bad guys."
OK, I admit it. This one is pretty funny. I was at the College of Charleston book fair- which coincides with the Freshmen weekend. So there are lots of families touring the campus. Set up nearby where photo booths where you could get your group picture taken and placed on a key chain or button with some spiffy slogan on it like "Family Memories- Charleston '08" or "This is right before we found out Junior was wasting our money and not going to class." The two other authors I was sitting with insisted we all go and get buttons made- each of us needed a button with our name and the title of our book on it. I didn't want to, but this didn't stop them from bugging me about every 10 minutes or so. They got their buttons done, and I was the odd man out. About 2 hours later I caved and stood in line and got my button made. I asked for "Mike Coker- Charleston Curiosities" please. This is what I got.
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