To stalk or not to stalk (part 2)

Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I’ll be watching you

Every single day
Every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I’ll be watching you

(JUST IN CASE KARIN IS READING THIS, I DID GIVE HER THE BLOG ADDRESS, I AM NOT REALLY STALKING YOU…BUT ISNT THAT WHAT A STALKER WOULD SAY? LOL)

So I ended with Karin wearing solid colored shirts for a whole year because I made her self-conscious. In the year between book signings I began to read Karin’s website. She had a contest where the first person to say a certain word would win a $25 gift card. I don’t remember what the word was, but I waited and no one else knew it so I raised my hand and she chuckled. She actually said, “Of course you know it.” and gave me the gift card. She read a page or two of the book, told us what she was planning for the next book, and opened the floor to questions. I am sure I asked a question but I don’t remember it as I write this. I waited till everyone else got their book signed, and went last. I stayed talking to her for probably 15 or 20 minutes. She told me about her writing process, a few authors she thought I would like, and I told her about an incident that happened when I went to a book signing for John Sandford (real name John Camp), another of my favorite authors.

My Sandford experience was the exact opposite of my Karin Slaughter and Michael Connolly interactions. (Maybe I will write about Connolly another time but it is not a long story at all.) Sandford arrived late, was dressed in a suit, and had a few people with him. He didn’t read part of his book but went straight into his resume, seeming to focus more on his journalism career than the fiction authoring that we were here to hear about. I love his PREY series, and read them to this day. What he did tell us was that his son had been writing a separate series of books about an artist/thief named Kidd. I was devastated. I didn’t ask a question, but when I got to the front of the line to get my book signed I did ask who he thought would play Davenport, the main character in the PREY series, if a movie was to be made. He said, in all his arrogance, that he didn’t really care if they ever made a movie but if they did he pictured Rob Lowe. ROB LOWE?????????? I told him that I pictured William Peterson, the main tech Grissom on CSI. He looked straight at me and told me he didn’t own a TV and had no idea what CSI was. The final slap was when I asked his to take a picture. He stood and told me to flip the book upside down. I asked why, chuckling like he was joking. He stopped and said that there were 2 people on the planet that had a picture with him and his book right side up and I was not going to be the third. NICE ATTITUDE, huh?

Great author. Shitty human being.

Back to Karin, when talking about her writing process she asked me if I wrote. I told her that I did in school, and I had a few ideas for stories, but I hadn’t done anything with it at all. She told me to stop the crap and write. She said I shouldn’t expect to be the next Stephen King or even to get published. She said that to write with a goal in mind would be the end of my writing. “Just write. Do it. If you come next year and you don’t have a sample or a short story for me to see, don’t come because I won’t sign your book.” For the next year I stressed about this. All I could think about was her being disappointed in my writing. I was so stressed I deleted the short story a dozen times and never finished it. When the day of the next book signing came I was worried. I really needed to get my book signed. I was both happy and sad that she didn’t mention it when I got up there. I started this blog a while ago now and I am proud of it, and disappointed by it, depending on the day.

I will end with the signing of her 13^th book CRIMINAL, last weekend. Karin answered questions and let us know that she has been in negotiations to bring the Grant County books to film. She told us about the crazy questions she gets, like if she would be opposed to the stories taking place in Scotland instead of South Georgia. She said she was actually pulling for a TV series rather than a movie, but it was all tentative. She said she didn’t want to lose control so she was holding out, and the fan boy geek in me cheered. When it was time to sign my book Karin remembered that I had moved to Florida and asked where my ex-girlfriend (she who I cannot write about) was. I just shook my head no, and she said she was sorry to hear that. I told her about the blog and how I had spent the better part of the last year in New York, now living in the Buckle. We chatted for a few minutes, the crowd had now grown to well over 150 people, with the entire process being filmed for Barnes & Noble TV and a local TV show, but she took the time to thank me for coming and said she would see me next year. Yes you will Ma’am. Yes you will.

Time to hit the gym fatboy…lol

I don’t think of myself as a stalker, more like a super fan. I use to keep paperback copies of her books to give to random people when I was telling them how awesome she was. Since they never get returned I stopped, but I do tell people that if they read her first book and don’t like it, I will pay them for the book. A money back guarantee from a fan is unheard of. She is just that good.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it….

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