Friday, September 12, 2008

Not generally associated with "any sense of shame"

We had a signing Tuesday with the best-selling mystery writer Margaret Coel. She's always a delight--gracious, generous with her time, and charming. She spent a lot of time with the folks who came to the luncheon in her honor, and most of the guests were nice about sharing Margaret with the others, rather than monopolizing her time. 

Among the people at the luncheon and the signing afterwards was local author Ina, who had a satchel full of press clippings, her books, scrapbooks, and photo albums featuring Ina in various athletic pursuits. She stood in line and talked at length about her travels, Jane Austen, and the fact that one of her books may be made into a movie, because a producer took a copy at a workshop she went to.

Margaret would occasionally peer around Ina at the other people in line, smile apologetically, and then politely return to Ina's monologue. Finally, I nabbed Ina, asked her nicely to let other people have a chance, and led her away.

Toward the end of the signing, Margaret said, "I need to give you my credit card. Ina wants me to buy her book [the one that may be made into a movie]." I told Margaret to put away her money. I went back to the workroom and asked Alan to take the book out of inventory so we could give it to Margaret. 

"Ina didn't give the book to Margaret?!" he spluttered. "She's making Margaret buy it?" When I went back into the store, Margaret said, "At least self-published authors can choose the artwork for their covers." Her observation was accompanied by the faint sounds of spluttering still coming from the workroom.



"Who knew she would recite Pride and Prejudice at a book signing?"

3 comments:

Chuckbert said...

That Ina! She has alot of nerve, alright! But at least she gives us amusing tales.

(Ms. Magic Merlye Cohen has written six screenplays and none apparently has been filmed. So I wouldn't worry about having to sit through a movie based on an idea by Ina.)

RetroMag said...

Yesterday at the Senior Center luncheon Jan McDonald on trumpet and a pianist played songs for our entertainment and gratification He suggested we could sing along, laugh, cry, or whatever we wanted to do. One of the things they played was a rollicking Irish tune and Ina got up front and did an Irish jig for our enertainment and gratification. It was nicely choreographed but certainly not the traditional Irish style.

BobbieS53 said...

That Ina! Maybe you could grab her when she comes in the door and make her go to the back of the line. You could announce, "Thanks for coming, we're out of time." when Ina gets to the front of the line. She certainly has chutzpa!