Writing for Beans

Mr. Jordan's passing brought up the memory of how and why I first started reading his novels.  It might come as little surprise, that growing up (as now) I was a frequent patron of book stores.  In my home town was a local book store.  It was known as the Book Stop. (And a quick google search shows the store is still there, yay!)  I used to stop in to peruse the shelves anywhere from 1-5 days a week, pretty much every week from junior high on.  It was my main source of both D&D items, as well as books.  I spent countless hours going through the shelves over the years, and the sales person got to know me and my father.  (My father consumes books at a rate most people eat food.)  After I graduated and went off to college, I would still stop in at the store when ever I was home for a visit or on breaks.  Dennis, the sales clerk, knew me.  He knew most of what I read, because most of what I read, he'd sold me.  Over the years, he'd steer me to a book here, or a suggestion there.  And he'd always inquire, which books I liked, or didn't.

Then one year, I think somewhere around 1992 (yes I joined the bandwagon a bit late) he started chatting up this series he'd heard great things about.  The Wheel of Time.  They were out of the first book, but if I was interested he'd place an order for me.  Why not, I thought.  By that thursday (the day shipments arrived) I was holding The Eye of the World in my hands.  Dennis had not steered me wrong.  I did indeed love the book, and acquired the other books out at that time, reading them voraciously back at school.  Later when I learned that authors made more money from hardcovers than from the paperbacks (and a bit due to impatience for the new editions and some adhesive problems of the paperbacks too) I started to purchase this series in hardcover.  I even managed to back collect the earlier novels that I had in paperback.  The WoT continued to be one of the series I would save up money for, even while in college and poor, forgoing quantity of other novels to own the hardcover.  I'm quite happy with my collection of the series.   If his family releases a final volume, whatever the format, I will proudly add it to the rest.

I'm still the guy who is constantly perusing the book store shelves.  These days, the book stores are large chain stores.  They are places one can go sit, have a beverage, meet a friend, and relax.  The overall number of books is immense.  Yet, except for the time when I had a friend who became an employee of the local bookstore, I never really had that kind of connection.  It's not that the employees aren't friendly, or willing to help.  They are, and they do.  But there's something different between being one of hundreds of daily customers, being served by one of dozens of employees, some of whom you might not see again for a month or more, and being a customer known by the single salesclerk and the store owner.   Being seen day in, day out, by the same limited person.  They knew me, they knew my father, my brother.  They knew books I'd like.  Books to point out and mention to my dad.   Amazon, even with their suggestions, and people who bought this book also bought ___ can't compare to the kind of service I got from a real friendly home town bookstore.  I guess that's why people think of the past as the good ol' days.