Had a fabulous time last weekend at Backlist Books in Massillon, Ohio — a great new indie bookstore that does a knock-out job supporting not only speculative genre fiction (horror, science fiction and fantasy literature), but also the independent press. It’s good to see a place like this in the Midwest region of the country. They carry any number of books that I have only heretofore seen available online (especially when it comes to ‘bizarro’ fiction), lots of genre magazines, classic titles of science fiction and fantasy… They had LOTS of collectibles and rarities. I even spotted a quirky line of “adult sci-fi” paperbacks on one shelf that made me laugh aloud (I can’t remember the titles to the letter, but they were something along the lines of Captain Loins vs. the Tentacular Space Pirates from Planet Vulvon), and all sorts of cool art on the wall. Every book buyer even got a fortune telling fish!
The “Bizarro Day” reading event was a smashing success, and it was fun to hear D. Harlan Wilson, Anderson Prunty, John Edward Lawson, Gary A. Braunbeck and Lucy Snyder all read their latest weirdness. I read song parodies (everyone seemed to laugh at my Journey remake, “Don’t Stop Bleeding”) and other pop culture horror poems. Bookseller Fred Van Patton reported that it was probably the most successful event in the store’s history — and that we even outsold Deepak Chopra! It’s true that I sold a goodly number of books, but subsequently spent whatever I made on sales to buy the other writer’s latest books. I hope you will do the same.
Event Coverage updates posted here as they come in:
“Bizarro Day” Bookstore Event Follow-Up — The Goreletter …: Bookseller Fred Van Patton reported that it was pro… http://bit.ly/8XC3dq