Love Letter to Bookstores

This Saturday, June 9, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., I’ll be part of the Author Extravaganza, a booksigning of over forty Kansas authors at Town Crier in Emporia. Once again, I am humbled by how enthusiastically my regional bookstores have embraced Airball: My Life in Briefs. Here, in no particular order (except the chaotic order in which my brain spits them out), are a few of the bookstores that have gone out of their way to promote Airball, with a big thank you and a cyber hug to each of them:

Town Crier Bookstore—Emporia, Kansas
Becky at Town Crier has been promoting my book, stocking my book at regional library fairs, and has invited me to participate in the Author Extravaganza.

Oread Books—University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
Lisa at Oread arranged three booksignings for me right after Airball came out, including a group signing during their annual holiday faculty and staff open house. The staff has really promoted Airball and at one point displayed it in three different areas of the store.

The Raven—Lawrence, Kansas
Pat Kehde and Mary Lou Wright, owners of this fabulous mystery bookstore, have talked up Airball, reviewed it in their newsletter, and promoted it on their weekly radio spot.

Borders Books—Lawrence, Kansas
This Borders has invited me to their store twice—the first time for a booksigning during last year’s Educator Appreciation Week, and again for the upcoming booksigning and reception on June 16, 2007, at 3 p.m. The reception is to celebrate Airball being named to the William Allen White Award List.

Claflin Books and Copies—Manhattan, Kansas
Even though Airball centers on KU Jayhawk basketball and contains scenes set at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Stormy Lee Kennedy and her crew in Manhattan (home of rival Kansas State University) have promoted the heck out of the book and made sure it was available at the Great Manhattan Mystery Conclave and library events. Stormy was also on the judging panel that selected Airball as a Kansas Notable Book.

The Book Barn—Leavenworth, Kansas
Bob and Barb Spear, owners of this eclectic independent bookstore, have made sure Leavenworth knows about Airball and last December invited me to be part of their Christmas Open House.

Watermark Books—Wichita, Kansas
The staff at Watermark has really pushed Airball, featured a really terrific review of it on their website, and made the book available at the Kansas Author Dinner at last year’s Tri-Conference. Watermark’s Mark David Bradshaw listed it as one of his favorite books of 2005 and published a nice long interview with me in The Wichita City Paper during last year’s Kansas Book Festival.

Book Kansas!—Wichita, Kansas
This website-based bookstore, devoted to promoting books about Kansas and by Kansans, has made sure Airball was available at the Kansas Author Dinner and other book events around the state.

Reading Reptile—Kansas City, Missouri
Deb and Pete at this fabulous (and I’m not exaggerating—Reading Reptile is fabulous) children’s bookstore in the charming Brookside section of Kansas City have invited me to be part of their author’s breakfast in July.

And I know I’ve probably forgotten some terrific bookstores that have gone above and beyond to help readers find my book (please—leave a comment if you know of one I’ve neglected to mention). I’m lucky to have so many passionate booksellers in my neck of the woods.