I greeted my fellow Authors. One came to look at my books and said she loved bios so she bought, "For Love of Country - Military Policewoman". She did really well selling her books - galore. People were buying her books about how to write ……..
The first person who is not an Author who came to my table was wearing a blue jay cap. So, unable to keep my mouth shut, I said, “blue jay.” He said I was going to see many of them today and then I was stumped. I don’t watch sports. I am clue less. When a good friend of mine kept bugging me to see a game at the then called Sky Dome, I kept declining until I agreed that if he couldn’t find anyone to go with, I would, as long as he was oky with me wearing ear defenders (for shooting) and bringing a book to read. He found someone else to go with. So, all I know about sports is what I see on the news when I am not fast forwarding that part. I know they are on a winning streak but sometimes they don’t. So, I just ignored what he said and tried to disappear, but he did that for me. He was tall, definitely in shape but had sustained an injury. He also had red hair. Not too long after I saw a group of men with baseball (?)uniforms , Americans, huddled, talking. I noticed they were smaller than my blue jay and a bit pudgy and wondered if that is why our team was on a winning streak. I recognized one of the names on the news that night when they were talking sports. Yup, Americans, I was right. Easy since I can still recognize uniforms as couples wear them, babies wear them and itsy bitsy children wear them so it is no big deal for me to just assume everyone is a fan and not a player.
I didn’t do very well on my first day but did sell a copy of "Hey Guy Buy Me". It is still my most popular book. Go figure.
Then I saw the devil. He was dancing with a woman and then they stopped dancing and he came to me to shake my hand. I complied. He then proceeded to another table not that far from me and war started. There was shouting and things flying and I could see that things were going to go very bad, very fast, so I got up and went to speak to the writer. No, that didn’t work so I asked the devil to come with me and brought him back to my table. I offered him a copy of Hey Guy Buy Me which he didn’t want. He was very upset that the writer had called him the devil and to get away from him. Sometimes, you have to see the man within the mask of the devil. I suggested that he had probably scared the man or he thought he really was the devil. I mean he looked like the real thing that you see in well produced movies, or not. He had some sort of realistic face shield with horns and a tail and red blood all over him including the hand I shook. This is not what you want to see in a dark lane and really not even on a bright sunny day as we had. He told me it was Hallowe’en (see what happens when everyone sells stuff for Hallowe’en before the date?). All he wanted was to make friends with someone. I felt bad for him and have since asked about community services for people to meet other people and make friends. Someone promised to look into that and provide me with a list. Older men are at the top of the list to commit suicide and we need to start working on something to discourage that. Friendship is important and loneliness is something many people suffer from. Find a way to have them unite, get to know each other and become friends. Not everyone has family and not all families are supportive. We need to help within our communities. Anyhow, I told him to just ignore the writer and to walk along a certain path and be the bigger person. He complied ignoring further jabs from the writer who began fighting with an author who had also tried to get him to stop. I was fortunate that he didn’t feel angry at me. The fun was not over. Two policemen came with a few members of Word on the Street and the writer was asked to leave. Well, after some loud complaining and wanting a refund, he yelled out at the policemen that he knew that they wanted to shoot him and to kill him and then challenged them to do so. The policemen looked bored as if they have to do this every two hours. Of course people would come to my table and disappear once they heard the man shouting, “Kill Me!” I was impressed how everything was dealt with very quickly and all traces of any incident disappeared. Table gone……space cleaned……… A magic wand. By now I really could use a coffee. So, I asked a volunteer how there can be no coffee at this event. This is what I was told, but don’t quote me. Tim Hortons did not want to sponsor the event, so they couldn’t get a spot. It made me wonder how much money do they have to donate. Tim Hortons is no longer Canadian so is that why? Are they mad at us? People still drink Tim Hortons. I see them everywhere. Then one of the Authors reminded me that Star bucks is shutting down stores in Canada. “100” I responded. I love Starbucks. I know I will still find them in Toronto because they are everywhere, but what about Niagara Falls? Am I going to Niagara Falls? Who knows. I am taking my house off the Market in what 21 days? Is this a hint from Toronto that I won’t be going anywhere?
The day ended before I realized it. It went so fast. I didn’t sell much but people loved to come and talk. They were all from Toronto. Come on Americans, “Where are you?” I didn’t see the regular visitors and none of my three fans. I decided I was going to have a huge cup of coffee when I got home. But, now going home was not going to be easy. First of all I parked at Roy Thompson Hall because when I tried to park below the square, I scanned the entrance payment thing of a jig and what do I get? Those casino games where you pay and lose all your money without going to the casino. When I finally got out I had to wait because there was grid lock. A fire truck was trying to travel East and was just sitting there siren and lights screaming and people just waiting stationary in their vehicles. After about five minutes there was some movement and I managed to come out of the lot. I know there is a lot of congestion in the city but I didn’t think about how this impacts the survival of others, needing emergency response. It took me forever and as soon as I could travel North, I did. I passed Hooters (I didn’t even know we still had any in Toronto) and saw our American players inside. They certainly were not reading any books. It took me forever to get home…….over an hour easy. Traffic was everywhere. I think we need to trade our cars in for golf carts. Would that help? They keep decreasing the speed limit so that may just be an option. We can winterize the carts. It would be very affordable. I got home, took a bath and forget coffee. I woke up once during the night with a headache from caffeine withdrawal.
I awoke the next morning feeling fresh and bushy tailed. I was ready. I made a big peanut butter and jam sandwich. I drank two coffees with a heated scone and I filled a huge cup of coffee with a mug I got for Christmas. I have two which keeps coffee hot all day. I got into my car and drove there in no time. I parked under the square, ignoring the scanner. I parked right next to the elevator which took me directly to the square where my table was nearby. I stopped first at an eatery asking them if they have vegetarian meals. She assured me they did and that would be my final trip of the day (to go). The nice lady remembered me and not only did she give me a discount, she gave me two days of Indian food. I sold more books during my second day but nothing like, "Hate Story" by Jeff Cottrill. There is me offering him suggestions when I saw his pink overused blanket holding his books. I felt sorry for him but not for long as everyone seemed to buy his book. It is about a fight or riot that breaks out at funeral. All he was saying was, “Do you like mystery and satire?” They would stop, all genders, and buy the book. I kept looking at him and trying to figure out how he was accomplishing that. I decided I have to use the word “hate” in my caption of a book which he discouraged saying that Bookstores don’t like that word. He told me that people really like his pink blanket. I looked at another Author who was doing well and he used black garbage bags as a base. Jeff wanted to trade a book for his and The Internet Murders cost the same so we traded. Jeff is very likeable. He told me about a few places in Hamilton and was it Ottawa or Montreal where I should go to sell my books. I have it written somewhere. I am presently surrounded by my books as I wish to write my blog first. Matthieu Bonin, another Author gave me a copy of his work called Light From Darkness. He had tried to talk to the writer when the Devil came around and I wanted to check on him to make sure he was ok. I am looking forward to reading his book as well. As I was leaving I saw a woman reading his book on a bench. Thanh Dinh also gave me a lovely book marker and a booklet named Salt and Ashes. She was selling books with her family and they are all very nice. She had balloons and when one popped everyone got scared so I mentioned it to her that people in Toronto get edgy sometimes because of all the people shooting guns, they don’t know how to shoot. I had a young child come to me to look at my books again and I felt horrible. I gave her a book marker and pen and told her to come back when she is 16. I have to write a kid’s book because I don’t like to see them so disappointed. How hard can it be? I’ll find out. I also learned from one of the Author’s that a young woman was charging people whatever they could afford to pay and she would write them a poem using a typewriter. Another told me about someone selling plots? “How can they write a book, if they can’t write a plot?” When I thought about it later, it is pretty creative of how to think up ways for young people to make money. It was a great day and I met and talked to so many people. I have to still table how many books I sold etc…and should finish off tomorrow. I have to finish off what I am presently reading and then I shall read the other books and let you know about them. The other highlights? I got chocolate dipped ice cream all over my pants and top. A woman who said she teaches English at York University wanted to take a picture for her Instagram and then I found myself live on video answering her question of what The Internet Murders is all about. I was taken completely off guard and felt like a babbling idiot. I couldn’t sell her a book because she didn’t have cash and I didn’t have a tap machine. I need to get that figured out because I do lose too much money. Jeff Cottrill was so nice to me that he would eventually let people use his stripe and he would pay me. I had a man come to my table to tell me he was a blogger, “me too,” I replied and then he disappeared. I had another wanting me on her pod casting channel. I declined telling her I am low profile. Another Author I met previously came to say hello and he was with his Influencer he wanted to hire. Facebook, etc……(and you charge for that?) All in all, it was a great weekend with very many interesting costumes, and people. I do love my City and all it offers. Now, I have to slow down again and recharge. I am really looking forward of taking my house off the market so I can have my home back. You have three weeks to buy or I stay in Toronto. Good talk.
Later.
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