The basement is finally finished! (If you don’t count a half dozen tiny things that still need to get done). The plumber and electrician made several new dings in the freshly painted bathroom wall, but hoping my painter will be good about fixing them. The painter said the people who made the dings should fix them, and the contractor says, no, that’s the painter’s job. So…

Tonight I told a story on a new stage: Tales & Ales in Ashburn, VA. I told The Garlic Rebellion, which I’ve told a few times on other stages but which I haven’t told for nearly 2 years. I also changed the beginning a bit and rehearsed numerous times. I still flubbed it at the start by forgetting which line came next, but I was able to recover pretty well and no one was the wiser. It was a good crowd, more than 100 people.

A local indie bookseller was carrying local indie books at a popup at the show, but I sold only one book (DIY Solo Retreats); not even a copy of my memoir, which my story tonight came from. I’ve had three events in the past three weeks and only managed to sell a total of nine books. I spent extra money have extra copies of my books shipped to me by express so I’d have them in time for the event. Turns out it was money wasted. Now I’m stuck with 75 copies of my memoir alone, which I’ll never be able to sell myself. Just hoping more local bookshops pick me up (although a lot of them are snobbish when it comes to self-published books). Feeling quite demoralized this evening.