Hometown Book-Signing On Long Island
I think I was more nervous about this book-signing appearance than any of the others. Facing a hometown crowd should be easy…I knew a lot of people there would be my friends and would be supportive. But I also knew if things went badly, it would be extra embarrassing to be humiliated in front of people I see on a regular basis. Of course, what could’ve really gone so “badly” as to humiliate me for all time? Well, a small turn-out in my hometown would certainly be bad. It didn’t help matters that there was a Same Sex Wedding Expo happening at the Thatched Cottage in Centerport on the same night as my book signing at Book Revue in Huntington. And they were even having a book-signing there with a nationally known same-sex marriage expert! Great: competing gay book-signings on the same night 15 minutes away from each other. At least the World Series was over, so I wasn’t competing with the Red Sox first World Series win in 86 years. With all of this, I faced the evening with a good deal of trepidation; thank God, it all went magnificently. A nice crowd showed up, many faces I knew….from my past, co-workers, friends….and also, readers of the comic strip whom I’d never met in person. It was a true thrill, a warmly supportive crowd, as I’d hoped, and it all went marvelously. Thank you to everyone who showed up and made it a brilliant evening! (And a big thank you to my friends from the bookstore, who took me out to dinner before the book-signing, at Canterbury Ales, the medieval-themed restaurant/bar across the street from Book Revue, for a fun, rollicking, laughter-inducing meal!).
