Oklahoma!

[mmerriam]

careswen and I traveled back to Oklahoma over the Christmas holidays to visit with family and friends. This was the first time we had been back since 2009, and careswen had the lovely idea that I should do some public readings and storytelling events in our old home state. It was a great idea. None of our family or friends in Oklahoma had been to one of my readings, and I was incorporating my storytelling-as-performance into what I was doing.



Decision made, we had to find venues. This turned out to be especially hard for Oklahoma City. I blame myself for this. Had I started trying to lock down venues in early November, it would have been less stressful. As it was, we didn't have a place in Oklahoma City until we were already in Oklahoma. Still, we managed to find three places, scattered about the state where various friends and family could come and see what it is I do.

The first reading and signing was at Hooked on Books, on Main Street in Weatherford, Oklahoma. This is the town careswen and I both lived in when we met. We had always planned to do an event at Hooked on Books, a small independent bookstore in a college town. careswen and I both spent many happy hours and plenty of change in our old home town bookstore and Mabel Wheeler, the owner, is one of the nicest people you are ever going to met.

The table was right in the middle of store, where people could come in the front door and see us set up. Lots of familiar faces in town showed up to say hello, and several people I did not know but had read the press release in the local newspaper came in and bought my books for Christmas presents. It was fantastic two hours of chatting with friends old and new, and a dream come true for me, to have an event in my "hometown" bookstore. And we sold a ton of books!

The second event was at the Anadarko Community Library, in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Anadarko is the Caddo County seat and I got my first library card at the old Anadarko Public Library, back when it was in the old Masonic Lodge, as opposed to the new digs it moved into a few years back. I was pleased to get to do a reading and storytelling event at a library system that helped keep younger me in reading material.

The staff did a great job of setting me out where the traffic was flowing. Once again, I had a great time and made some new friends at the Library, both staff and patrons, as well as reconnected with some old school friends. I did a reading and storytelling event in the lounge area with a nice enough crowd. We sold a goodly number of books, gave away a lot of swag, and I donated copies of my books to the library. It turns out my uncle knows Kay Perry, the library director, and my sister-in-law is either related to knows everyone in Caddo County, so lots of family to be found!

The third and final appearance was the morning we flew back to Minnesota. This was at The Underground Coffee in Midwest City, an Oklahoma City suburb and home to Tinker Air Force Base, which we could see from the coffeeshop parking lot. This was the last event we booked, so it was harder to get the word out, but we did our best, and Jacob and the staff at The Underground (which was a family run shop) were wonderful folks. The turn out was a little smaller, but we still had a good number of people show up, so I got up from the signing table and read a little. The coffee was fantastic; if you are ever in Midwest City, stop by and give them some business. As we left, Jacob invited us to come back and hold an event there again, the next time we were in Oklahoma.

Over all, it was a great time. We worked hard, sold some books, and made some new friends. Really, what else could you ask for?