Hooray for Buy Indie Day!

Well, the idea behind "Buy Indie Day" worked, because without that inspiration I would not have shlepped to Delray Beach to find my nearest independent bookseller. I must say, though, that I am glad I did so.

I drove up to Pineapple Grove to visit Murder on the Beach, a mystery bookshop. I was just browsing around, determined to find something to buy to show my support of indies, and after meandering around the whole store twice, I struck gold. An author I already love, a series I thought had ended, and an autographed copy to boot. It was The Laughter of Dead Kings, a Vicky Bliss mystery by Elizabeth Peters! This is the first new book about Vicky in more than a decade, and I hadn't even known about it!

Amusingly, the book starts with an author's note asking readers to suspend their disbelief and just accept "the current now." The first Vicky Bliss mystery came out in 1973. This one is (c)2008 and she's still in her thirties. And the story now includes things like cell phones. It's fine with me, I liked Vicky as a thirty-something and I don't really want her to have aged. And I think it would be too much work to try to retrofit the book to the seventies, carefully proofreading for any signs of modern technology. It's escapist fiction anyway, so "the current now" premise works for me.

I'd forgotten how very pleasant downtown Delray can be on a sunny day, so I decided to take my new book, get a coffee, and start reading. I was walking over to Starbucks when I realized I should uphold the spirit of the day by finding an independent coffeeshop, so I ended up at a health food place where I got a mocha latte and an organic cookie. I must admit that the lack of wheat flour didn't do the cookie any favors, but it was nice to sit in the breeze sipping away and reading a few chapters of my new book. I felt like I was on a mini-vacation! Thanks, Buy Indie Day!