As the rest of the world (or at least it seems that way) heads toward downtown Atlanta and DragonCon, I’m getting ready for the Decatur Book Festival. Now this is the South so it’s going to be HOT this weekend (with a chance of showers, of course). This presents a problem.
I don’t own a pair of shorts. I usually wear black tops and black yoga pants most of the whole year unless I’m at some special function. Let’s see… black clothes + heat + sun = STUPID. So I went in search of a sundress today. How hard can that be?
Apparently harder than I anticipated because it’s almost Labor Day and the stores are already stocking for Fall/Autumn. Now add in the fact that I was hot, cranky because I was *way* tired for some reason, and hungry, and the search played out like this:
Catherines — no dice
Plato’s Closet (secondhand clothing place) – nothing except in Size Dinky
Marshalls – nope
T.J. Maxx – dinky dresses with spaghetti straps which aren’t an option for someone of my “build”
The Avenue — YES
Then comes the checkout gauntlet:
Clerk: “Do you want an Avenue credit card? You’ll get 30% off your highest price item.” (Highest item is $29.95)
Me: “No, thank you.”
C: “But you’ll get coupons!”
Me: “No… thank you.”
C: “But… coupons!”
Me: “The last thing I need is another credit card.”
So she gives up on that and wants my personal info to put into their system so I can get emails and (wait for it) COUPONS.
Me: “No, don’t want that. Get too much e-mail as it is.”
C: “Are you sure?” (giving me a look like I must be an alien from another planet)
Me: “Definitely.”
“Would you like to sign up to receive our magazine?”
I resisted the temptation to say, “Which of the following multiple choice answers seems right to you?”
A) No
B) No
C) Hell no
The poor soul actually had to ask the other clerk how to override the system to turn off the “Let’s spam this customer for life” setting.
Finally I was out of there, still hot, tired and cranky. But I had TWO dresses!!! After lunch and a nap I was civil again. Only my good breeding (and remembering my Iowa manners) kept me from being too mouthy.
And now you know why I don’t go shopping very often.

Ever wandered what it’s like to live in Atlanta? Here’s a time-lapse video that gives you an idea of what my home city is like. ENJOY!
​
http://www.movoto.com/blog/opinions/atlanta-amazing-time-lapse/

If you’re ever been trapped in a car with whiny children (or adults) you’ve heard this before: “Are we there yet?” Well, I’ve been saying that a lot the last couple of weeks as we finish writing our non-fiction book Socially Engaged: The Author’s Guide to Social Media.

It’s getting there, chapter by chapter, but boy it’s not been easy. Which is pretty much the point. If writing a book about social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) is a snap, then that means being social online is easy. And is sure isn’t.

So far we have ten chapters, all of them heavy hitters, with topics like author branding, how to market yourself on various social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, blogs, GoodReads, you name it). Bottom line? I’ve learned a TON of stuff writing this book. Which is good, since that’s my job at the moment.

So as the rest of you return from summer vacations, send your kiddies off to school, we’re polishing the last couple chapters, changing what our copy editor said we needed to fix, and then the book is in typesetting. The print and e-book editions are due out October 3rd. Which seems a LONG time away except that it isn’t.
Hope your summer has been grand. My head is full of Facebook analytics and other arcane things. But in the end, it’ll all be worth it!

Are. We. There. Yet?