It was 7:30 am and I was high on a ladder in our store's foyer.
I had hung up wedding bells from the center of the ceiling which I had spray painted black and now I was trying to hang red and black streamers from the bell to the end of the walls.
But who knew there was a science to hanging streamers? Who knew you had to measure carefully or your dips would be uneven.....and your streamers crooked.
Crepe paper never seemed like an obnoxious substance....yet it was totally evil.....especially the cheap type I had bought at the dollar store which tore when I looked at it funny.
And I was looking at it funny....a lot.
Better to just leave the strange bells hanging solo....than to subject customers to the sight of crooked party decorations.
I noticed my hands were shaking a bit....I was working up high in a hot pocket of air....and I was afraid this was an omen of how the party was going to go this evening.....was I going to be caught by things I didn't expect.....just like I didn't expect hanging streamers to be a big deal....was my ticket system going to have angry patrons outside wanting to have words with the store manager?
I tried decorating something else......putting some material on a trellis....were kids could take fake wedding pictures of themselves.....and the material simply refused to cooperate....I had the material draped beautifully around the trellis....but my son and his friend brought the trellis over in a pick-up truck and the wind destroyed the arrangement.
I did the best I could.....felt my heart beat faster.....and a little panic set in..this would be a good time to go home. It was still hours before the party.....and maybe all this bad karma would dissipate.
I came back to the store around 5pm....the staff and the first rush of the crowd all hit the store at the same time....around 7pm.
My store manager.....hit me with a few rapid fire questions.....which is much her style...being raised in a military family....and I found myself answering them in complete confidence....yes I knew this....yes I had arranged for that....yes....I had thought of that.....somehow....being able to answer her without hesitation put me in my "general gina" mode.......a combo of personas....that blended my head nurse background and my event experience working and moving around a ton of wayward authors around our local literary fest.
In other words...I got my event mojo back.
One of the staff members asked me if I had had a couple of drinks. "You seem so calm".....but there's a part of me that can slip into this all-is-well-mode.....in a crush....and I was glad to see that side of me emerge for this event.
And of course....there was other factors involved here........you can plan all you want.....but if you don't have a great staff to implement the plan.....and believe in the plan....you are up a shit creek.
And I had the staff. I had great staff assigned for this party.....all knowledgeable .....able people....and as I talked them through what I hoped they would do for the party.....I knew they would be a great team.
I also worked with this super person who co-chaired the event planning......a fan of the book....and in her twenties......I realized as the customers streamed in.... how right she had been about the ideas.....I wasn't sure about trivia questions and word games and word scrambles....but later that night.......I found teens scattered over the floor working the paper games and we actually ran out of trivia questions they were so popular.
She had her finger on what customers wanted.....and she was absolutely correct.
Close to midnight we had about 600 people in the store.....
Our party stops were a hit....Pin the tail on the Werewolf....Cellphones Memories are Forever......( take your picture next to Bella's wedding cake) word games, a dynamite costume contest.....and our bite painting station....(were volunteers drew vampire marks on willing necks....and dripped some fake blood from the marks). We had a gorgeous staff member wearing amber contacts and dressed in black telling fortunes.....and had a fun raffle for t-shirts.....the wedding cake....and an autographed book.
At midnight.....the ticket system ....worked. All I can say is Hallelujah! and this incredible thank you to another staff member who sat outside the door in the hot humid air and controlled the whole process with the help of a volunteer and another person.
We sold over 500 books and got at least 600 people out of the book store in 37 minutes. One of the guys on the staff.....was instrumental ...actually pivotal....in controlling the lines and the refining the ticket idea system....and he made it work. Wow...he made it work.
Amazing.
We closed the doors.....and I smiled.....at the sight of teen girls skipping out of a store and hugging their books to their chests.
And if you love books ....you had to feel happy..........because books....all kinds of books....bring ideas and adventures and delight to people.
And when kids scream when they see the books headed down the aisles towards the cash register....you say to yourself......this is good....this is real good....and it doesn't matter that it's a vampire story or a wizard story or an erotic story .......what matters ....is sharing the story.....because in life....sharing the story....is some how essential....it's the life line that keeps us connected.....relieves our isolation as singular entities.....and makes our soul hum......
Me in my goth costume.....black t-shirt, black pants....stuff hanging from my neck and black and red hair........(It did wash out but took two days.)
Lace gloves up to the elbows and cut to expose my fingers....were actually a hit among some guys....one guy I knew who saw me dressed up at the party....told me a couple days later that the gloves were "sensual....and all I needed were a pair of black high heels"....whoa...are their men with black glove fetishes out there?
First time for me...black nails.... I admit....I thought they were kind of cool.
The books actually looked beautiful....rows upon rows upon rows...of jet black books with white lettering......all stacked in our special carts....waiting for their owners to claim them...
