Given that the Grigori Legacy series begins in Toronto (and, indeed, spends much of its time there), it really was about time that I ventured down to that city to do a book signing…and that’s exactly what I did this past weekend. 🙂
The World’s Biggest Bookstore has been promoting me as its Featured Urban Fantasy Author for the entire month of June (in conjunction with this interview by one of their booksellers), and so the timing was perfect. I booked a lovely train trip down from Ottawa on Saturday morning, planning to arrive with plenty of time to book into my hotel and get myself organized, stop at a bakery for thank-you treats for the staff, and find my way to the bookstore.
For the most part, things unfolded as planned. If you don’t count the part where I sat for five and a half hours beside a squealing (very high-pitched squealing, I might add) baby. Or the massive stye I developed the night before my trip that made me look a little like a recovering prizefighter by the time I arrived at the hotel (foundation makeup is my new best friend…just sayin’). Or the fact that I forgot to bring my walking shoes, decided to walk anyway (Toronto’s downtown core is emminently and very pleasantly walkable) but then went ten blocks in the wrong direction while searching for the bakery and had to retrace my steps…only to find the place at the exact corner where I’d taken the wrong turn. This despite having an iPhone with built-in GPS. Seriously. 😛
All’s well that ends well, however, and I must say that all ended very well indeed. I found the bakery and, practically next door to it, the bookstore…
And then I found these two lovely ladies waiting for me to sign their books at my table.
That’s Becky Lovatt of The Arched Doorway book blog on the left, and reader Jessica Spettoli on the right…and they rock. They stuck with me the entire day, handing out bookmarks, talking to customers about the books, and generally making me redundant…well, except for the signing part, of course. 😉 It was so nice having the company, and we had a fabulous time. By the end of the afternoon, my face actually hurt from laughing so much!
After selling out of Sins of the Angels (check out that diminishing pile on the table above! :)), I signed the remaining copies of Sins of the Son (so if you’re in Toronto and missed the event, you can still get a signed copy!), exchanged hugs and goodbyes with Becky and Jessica, and then took a stroll around the store. More like a trek, actually, because wow, is that place huge! This is the sci-fi/fantasy section and it is just a tiny fraction of the overall space:
(Oh, and that reminds me, if you’ve heard rumors that The World’s Biggest Bookstore will be closing next year, they’re just that: rumors. I spoke to one of the managers, and while some changes are being discussed, they have no intention of shutting down. As she put it, the place is a Toronto institution, drawing visitors from all over the world. So, Toronto booklovers, you can breathe again. ;))
The last stop of the day for me was my hotel, of course, and after being on my feet for several hours by then (remember the missing walking shoes? Ouch.), I was ready for a break…and a little time to enjoy the birds-eye view from my hotel window.
And that, my friends, was how I spent my weekend. How about you? Any other travelers out there? Exciting news? I’d love to hear it! 🙂
P.S. One last thing: for the lovely Torontonians who bought my books and received one of my “famous” bookmarks, here is the link I promised you to The Bookmark Saga!
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