Last night's signing

at McIntyre's Fine Books, a truly lovely bookstore, went pretty well. Though more people in the audience were friends or acquaintances than not, we still had a decent crowd, and there were multiple people I did not know. A couple of them brought copies of One Jump Ahead, which was nice to see.

I read the start of Slanted Jack, then went crazy and for the first (and probably only) time read the completely raw first page and a quarter of Fatal Circle. I think folks liked the new bit, but I won't have more to show for a few years. I then read a couple more selections from Slanted Jack, answered questions, and signed books.

One of the nice surprises of the evening was that Glennis (of The Missing Volume) and Thomas showed up. They had recently moved to the area, heard about the signing, and decided to join us. It was great to see them.

A group of ten of us, including Glennis and Thomas, headed out to a nearby (as much as things out that way can be near one another) Toreros Mexican restaurant for dinner. These folks have some of the best queso I've ever tasted, and their fajitas quesadillas with steak are wonderful and richly flavorful. The food and the conversation were great fun.

I'm now done signing for a while, and I have to say that though I enjoy the performing, I'm glad I'm done. The signings take a lot of time, they force you to confront the small size of your audience, and they encourage the sort of writerly neuroses for which I am justifiably well known. I'm glad I'm now just writing.