Today, my ten year old grandson and I worked at the gift shop at a nearby state park. We worked the 1-5 afternoon shift. At first it was quite busy and the main attraction was the Native American made jewelry. We do show a fabulous collection with some unique pieces. One woman bought more than 500 dollars worth. It is difficult to work there in respect to the books and the jewelry–we have a LOT of both. We are all volunteers, we get a discount but do not get paid. So much to want!!
Two members of the organization which supports the gift shop have their books on display in the shop for sale. Over a month ago, I left my most recent book of poetry (see the side bar for the cover and yes, you can buy it from this site or Amazon) for the manager to read. I have known the manager for years. In fact he painted (he is an artist as well and Native American himself) the corn plant on my wall next to where I am writing this. I thought probably since the others sold their books there, I could do the same. I realized that one of the books is a collection of poetry specifically about Palo Duro Canyon so it “belongs” there. However, the other one has absolutely nothing to do with the Canyon. When I saw the manger, I asked him what he thought about the book and the store selling it. He seemed a bit astounded that I had written it and commented that I certainly had a lot of talent. He had taken the book home and it was not at the store. However, when I asked about selling it there, he said he was working on it. Apparently, and in some ways not totally to my surprise, he is afraid some of the other members would find it too shocking, too racy. Really?! Maybe I should have encouraged one of the blurb writers to say something racy, maybe I should advertise differently. Racy sells more books.
