Blogger book tour, round two

One of the best things about living in Los Angeles - or any major city, for that matter - is that you have the chance to meet a lot of interesting people. Never mind the diversity of the city's inhabitants; talented people from all over consider LA a worthwhile stop on their publicity tour. And if you have the tenacity for sitting in rush hour traffic and paying by the meter on Sunset Boulevard, you, too, could be rubbing shoulders with your icons.

(I don't have either of the above, by the way. I'm guessing the economy is responsible for the recent lack of traffic, and the bookstore had a lot for free parking.)

But I would have sat through gridlock and risked a parking ticket tonight, if those were the hoops I had to jump through to meet Dooce. More than one of my favorite bloggers/writers, she is the person who (unwittingly) inspired this thing four years ago, and who I have held my own blogging/writing standards to ever since.

While traffic and parking were (relatively) easy, the actual set-up of the book signing was kind of a nightmare. When I went to Stephanie Klein's book signing last year, it was in a vast upstairs area roped off specifically for the guests; chairs and a large table were set up, and while I think there were so many guests that it became standing room only, even those standing guests could see the speaker.

Tonight's event was at a little nook of a store, with no common space for the reading, and, really, not a lot of space at all. I was claustrophobic just looking around. There was a podium set up in the corner, with six chairs in front of it. Six. For one of the biggest stars on the Internet. People started filling in the aisles, and ultimately had to crane their necks around the maze of bookshelves and tables just to catch a glimpse of the speaker. Which, for an hour, I would think would be annoying.

Because I was early (I'm ALWAYS early) I did get a good spot, right up front. If there was a fire in the building, I'd never have made it out of alive. The store manager actually introduced Heather by saying that they were pleased to disregard fire codes. But as soon as she started, the room filled with energy, and I was exactly where I wanted to be.