On Saturday, November 30, 2024, four members of Pen & Keyboard including Jim and Evelyn Martin, Carla Guthrie, and John Carpenter participated in a book signing at Oklahoma City’s premier bookstore, Full Circle Bookstore. Being Black Friday weekend, the store was full of shoppers and the usual contingent of customers who are there on most weekends sipping coffee from the store’s coffee shop or maybe even enjoying a chess game. Other patrons were sitting quietly reading from the many books offered at the store.
Early on, the owner of the bookstore, Jim Tolbert, came by to wish us good luck. Mr. Tolbert has been the owner of the store since 1977, and it is the largest independent, locally owned, general interest bookstore in Oklahoma. John Carpenter remembers shopping at the store when he was in college many years ago. Our members were set up at two tables near the in-store coffee shop. Many shoppers dropped by to ask questions about the two books we had for sale: Celebrating the Seasons and People, Places, and Pets. Two ladies had a question for John Carpenter about the origin of his story in People, Places, and Pets. John told them his story “Hippie-Fest at the Cotton Bowl” was based on a Rolling Stones concert he saw at the Cotton Bowl in 1975. The ladies told John they had seen the Stones at the Cotton Bowl also, but their concert experience was in 1981. They seemed interested in reading about John’s experience and came back a few minutes later after purchasing the book for the group to sign.
A co-worker of John’s also dropped by with her son. She told us John had given her a copy of People, Places, and Pets and she was so impressed with the anthology she purchased one to send to her parents in Virginia since they are avid readers. Carla Guthrie’s family came to show support. One of her friends came and spent time chatting with the authors even though her house was damaged by the recent tornado that hit the metro last month.
We are very grateful to those who came and shared words of encouragement for our creative endeavor.
By the end of our allotted two hours, we had sold a total of six books, two of Celebrating the Seasons and four of People, Places, and Pets We also left three copies of each book with Full Circle on consignment. A few days after the event, John Carpenter received a message from general manager Dana Meister that they were looking forward to Pen & Keyboard participating in future events!
- Book Signing at Full Circle Bookstore - December 16, 2024
Great write-up,,,, and a really fun book to read. Categories well-chosen and skillfully represented in each short story.