Have you ever wanted to see what I look like in person? Have you ever wanted my childish man-scribble to deface your belongings? Have you ever wanted to watch a thirty-year old woman sit awkwardly alone at a table in the middle of a busy bookstore whilst the whole world passes her by, deaf to her ramblings about baking soda toothpaste?
WELL if you live in and/or around Edmonton, Alberta, you’re in luck! Your dreams are all coming true right before your eyes!
I will be signing books (mine, mostly) at the Whyte Ave/Strathcona Chapters store, at 2 PM on JULY 19. I’m so excited!
I’m extra excited in fact, because originally it was supposed to be a reading/talk/Q&A/signing, and then this happened:
PUBLISHER: Hey Madeleine! Unfortunately that Chapters store isn’t set up for A/V equipment, and it doesn’t have space for a seated session. Are you ok with just doing a signing?
ME: Oh! You mean, I’d just get to sit there and wait for people to approach me, instead of having to get up, knock-kneed and sweaty-palmed, to stammer through a reading and then panic my way through a question period?
PUBLISHER: Yes. Is that alright with you? We can find a different location that’s set up for readings if you’d prefer.
ME:Well, clearly I’m disappointed. But I do have a deep attachment to that particular chapters location (I do not have any such attachment to this or any Chapters location) so I guess it will have to suffice. *Much heel clicking and merry-making ensues*
I am actually really looking forward to doing that one day – the standing up in front of a crowd reading the words I wrote. I think it would make me feel extremely author-esque. But somehow I don’t feel like I am quite there yet, so this feels like a really nice compromise.
It’s the best of both worlds – I still get to meet some of you guys, without having to stand up and speak at a lectern like I am some sort of eco-expert-professor. Instead I get to sit at a table like we are just having a coffee together – and the fact that the sitting will disguise my knock-knees and sweaty-palms, well that’s just an added bonus 😉
*****
The other exciting thing about this event is that Chapters has graciously allowed me to host a small recycling initiative along with the signing. I always hoped to pair events like this with some sort of eco-friendly aspect – a real-life application of some of the things I talk about in All You Need Is Less.
I think setting up a compost bin would have probably been frowned upon by Chapters employees, and I couldn’t figure out a way to rig up a hairdresser’s sink to demonstrate the no-poo, so I asked if it would be possible to set up a collection box for beauty care items to send back to Terracycle. After a brief conversation that sounded something like:
“So… you want to have a big box of garbage sitting beside you at the signing?”
“Yes! No! Well I guess technically it’s garbage but it’ll be clean garbage! Garbage that we are stopping from going into the garbage so that it’s actually not garbage anymore! We are liberating the garbage! Rescuing it, if you will!”
“O…kayyyy….”
They agreed! So in addition to defacing your copy of All You Need Is Less, I will be actively helping you get to that elusive state of “less” by collecting the following items to send back to the lovely company Terracycle.ca:
Lipstick cases, mascara tubes, eye shadow cases, shampoo bottles, conditioner bottles, bronzer cases, foundation packaging, body wash containers, soap tubes, soap dispensers, lotion dispensers, saving foam tubes, powder cases, lotion bottles, chapstick tubes, lotion tubes, face soap dispensers, face soap tubes, face lotion bottles, face lotion jars, nail polish bottles, nail polish remover bottles, eyeliner cases, eyeliner pencils, eyeshadow tubes, concealer tubes, concealer sticks, lipliner pencils, hand lotion tubes, hair gel tubes, hair paste jars.
Isn’t that fabulous?
So Edmontonians, clean out your bathroom drawers, check your calendars, and come see me!
July 19, 2014 at 2 PM, Chapters Strathcona, on Whyte Ave (10504 82nd Avenue)
Hope to see you there!