A lost blog from February

A lost blog from February
( I wrote this just at the end of January and was waiting for some photo's from the reading.)  Anyway, they forgot to send me them - and typically, I forgot what I was waiting for. ....

It was a brilliant day for all concerned thanks to Urmston Bookshop.

Following on from my initial visit, I returned to Urmston Bookshop at the end of January to perform another reading of the HPM and other stories.  It was a tricky billing as I was going head to head with the 4th round of the FA Cup and the remnants of the 2nd test in Dubai. 

It was also a bit cold,

Any of these factors would usually contribute to a poor turnout and I expected to be reading to just a couple of kids and their parents.

How wrong could I be?  The owners Peter and Frances Hopkins had done their utmost to ensure that the event was well publicised and even went as far as notifying all the local schools in the area and making a display in the front window.  

They even created a range of stickers with the "HPM at Urmston Bookshop" for the children to have, which went down a storm and provided cushions and a blanket for all the kids to sit on while the parents could sit back and relax on the chairs.

Needless to say, that the event was pretty successful with me selling all my books and having to return to the car to get more.  (and to check on the football score as well. . . we lost !!)

Given that the book business is in the doldrums and has independent booksellers falling by the wayside almost on a weekly basis, Urmston Bookshop is like a breath of fresh air, a modern bookshop offering "good old-fashioned" personal service and dedicated customer care.  They seemed to know almost everybody that came in and were buzzing with enthusiasm and energy throughout the afternoon.