I love Daunt Books. I love the “olde world” wood shelves. I love the way it sets out to present the entire globe between book covers. But I especially love it because it continues to stock my novel, A Clash of Innocents. I popped in over the weekend while I was in the neighbourhood and saw this:

Yes, there it is, prominently displayed right where it should be, in the middle of the section on Cambodia. Do I need to point out the fact that it is facing full frontal, so to speak?  What could be better?

When I first started being published and having the experience of seeing a book of mine on a bookshelf in a bookstore, the feeling was that of unalloyed joy and excitement.  It’s now six years and four books later and, alas, the more neurotic, “all business” part of me has pushed the artistic me aside. Yes, I was excited to see this — obviously excited enough to shamelessly stand there and take a photo of it. But within two minutes I started to worry. These are the crazy thoughts that ran through my head:
     Oh no, if the book is on the shelf it means it hasn’t been sold
     Maybe it’s been there for months and months and even if it is sold, the shop will never order another
     Maybe if this book takes too long to sell, they won’t even consider stocking my next book
     Oh no, if they don’t stock my next book it will never sell
     If they don’t stock my next book, I won’t get to happen upon it in the bookstore and I won’t be able to take a picture.


As my grandmother would say, oy vay.  So, would it be better not  to see it on the bookshelf? Then I could imagine that the books are selling so quickly they just can’t keep them in stock.  Alas, I may be somewhat neurotic when it comes to my writing and my books, but I’m not so crazy as to think my books sell like, well, celebrity bios — although I did learn that I have sold more books than Julain Assange sold of his. But anyway, I’m just here to say, once somewhat neurotic, always somewhat neurotic.