Friends of St. Charles County Library Book Fair

8/17/2014 03:37:00 PM Lexie Dunne 22 Comments

I live in St. Louis, which is a surreal feeling this past week with so much of the world focused on Ferguson, which is about 25 minutes away from where I live and work. My local library has a really nice set-up and I’ve been starting to use it more to get work done. One really cool thing they do, and I wouldn’t have found out about it if Gail weren’t driving me nuts last week, is the Friends of St. Charles County Library Book Fair, which is where they pile hundreds of thousands of books in a room on plastic folding tables and just let the public graze.

HEAVEN. I'M IN HEAVEN.

Oh yes. Yes, indeed. Tables upon tables of delightful books, all for the (cheaply priced) taking. I met my mother on Friday afternoon at the convention center and together, we boldly went where no Dunne has gone before.

I should stop and tell you a little bit about Mama Dunne, who sits on the library board in my hometown. You’re not going to find anybody on the planet more excited that I’m getting published than Mama Dunne (except maybe Papa Dunne). Mama D is where I got my love of books. Grounding meant taking away my books. Good grades were rewarded with books. When I was about 12, I was handed Dragonsong, a rite of passage in Casa Dunne. We’re voracious readers and we bounce between genres like crazy, and used bookstores are our Kryptonite. So the two of us unleashed on the book fair?

We should’ve brought rolling luggage or a shopping cart, is all I’m saying. A lot of people did, too! Next year, we’ll be better prepared, I swear.

It's a little blurry because I just get so many excited with that many books, okay?

So here’s my haul from Friday, all prettily laid out. There are some authors I’ve been wanting to try, some old classics I love, a couple of biographies about people that interest me. I’m especially excited to read Special Agent, which is about FBI Agent Candice DeLong. I think it’ll come in handy with an adaptation I’m plotting (for the people that found me through, ahem, another name, think realllllly long title).

I also picked up a manual called The Art of Writing Made Simple: Professional Writing for Publication in Magazines, Newspapers,. Movies, Stage, Radio and T.V. The front cover says:

THE ART OF WRITING MADE SIMPLE is a wholly new departure, an effort to do what has not been done before in any publishing venture. It is our response to the needs of the countless thousands who “would like to write,” who have something of interest and significance to communicate, who are amateurs but would like to become professionals.

This is like the 50s version of Writing for Dummies.

Chapter 8 is THE NOVEL, and on the FIRST PAGE it talks about how the novel has really gone downhill, you guys. Of course, the book then scoffs at the notion within the same paragraph, but it’s why I picked it up at all.

Because it was written in 1956.

I don’t tend to read writing reference because badly written writing reference hinders more than it helps, in my opinion, so I probably won’t read this book. But it looks interesting. If anybody would like me to scan any of the pages, let me know.

I returned today to the book fair, fully expecting a gutted room with a few sad paperbacks in lonely piles on dusty tables, only to find the room swelling with a mass of humanity and still BOXES UPON BOXES of books left to sell. Picking through the romance novel section was great fun, especially as one of the volunteers was wearing a Supernatural T-shirt and we bonded over Jared Padalecki being both Dean and Sam in various shows. I walked away with two bags this time, one absolutely straining at the seams with romance novels (some for my grandmother when she moves into my parents’ house next month) and another tote bag threatening to remove my arm from my shoulders.

At one point, I saw the words Gail Carson Levine and I nearly danced.

Did I tell you I’m moving at the beginning of October? Yeah, this is a perfect time to go buy 50 pounds of books.

In other news, I worked up the nerve to mention to one of the librarians working the cashier’s line that I’ve got SUPERHEROES ANONYMOUS coming out in November, and she invited me to check out a local author open house. I’ve sent inquiries, but it looks like I might be making an official author appearance. I’ll keep you updated.

In book news, I’ve got some edits due a week from tomorrow. My editor Rebecca and I are chugging right along to get the most polished book we can. I can’t tell you very much right now other than what the back copy says, but here in the next few weeks, hopefully there will be more I can release. Everything’s really starting to come together. I’m incredibly excited about it, but also incredibly nervous.

Come say hey in the comments! Or if you don’t want to leave a public comment, I’ve got a contact form now.

- Lexie

PS - If you want a better look at some of the books I purchased this weekend, I set up an entire Goodreads shelf. You can see my unashamed love for Mary Balogh and Susan Elizabeth Phillips.