Jessie
(Jwells5638) is a one woman distributor of Nora's
works overseas and knows her stock stateside as
well ... I did buy all the other "In Death" series,
this weekend for my Net friend in Australia. I also
met a couple trying to find "The Reef" and told
them which stories had it." Way to go,
Jessie!
Sue (SueCBDR) has a lot of
opportunities to play Phantom and can even do it to
other Phantom workers … "Another lady came in
tonight with a copy of The Reef. She was a hoot!
She bought another copy for a friend; since she
cannot be here on Saturday (she's a grandma &
is going to see her grandson in Pittsburgh--she
told me that the only person she loves more than
Nora is her grandson!), she left the books for Nora
to sign. She then told me that she's been reading
Nora for 10 years now. She even had a Phantom
story! She said that's she's gone up to complete
strangers in bookstores & told them that they
just had to read Nora Roberts! I then casually
asked her if she read any of Nora's DEATH books.
That took her back for a moment, so I went and
grabbed Naked in Death. A resigned look came over
her face and she sighed. I described Eve &
Roarke (especially Roarke)--she told me that she's
personally put Nora into another tax bracket! LOL
Another one, hook, line, & sinker!" Good work,
as usual, Sue!
Tracey (TraceyOD) was so
excited about the TBID signing, that she
impersonated a salesperson: "I really DID enjoy
myself in my 'bookseller for a day' role. That was
MY dream come true!! And it was so cool, because
people had no idea that I really DIDN'T work
there!!! Even better, I had people convinced I read
some of the Nora books I recommended which I have
not read yet! 'Divine Evil? Ohhhh, that's a good
scary one. Make sure you're not alone in the
house--especially when you go to bed! Did you know
that Emmitsboro is really based on Boonsboro, which
is where Nora's husband's bookstore is?' Heh heh.
One woman even said, 'My God, have you read ALL of
Nora's books?' Sales? I'm a natural!!! <g>"
You're a natural Phantom as well.
Dona (DMoHumfre) is
learning the proper BB/N way to act in a bookstore.
She's just a little hesitant. "I can't believe it,
but I bothered a lady in a book store! LOL She was
this sweet older lady in a wheelchair, and her
daughter was with her, and of course, they were
talking about who was good, and she already had 2
Nora's on her lap. So I had to put in my 2 cents
worth and say she already had the best right there!
I couldn't believe I did that! Then I had to see if
she knew about JD Robb, and their eyes were worth
the embarrassment of bothering total strangers in a
store! They hadn't, and they grabbed the first one
as I told her she'd love them best in order, but I
warned I hooked her now for the whole series. She
smiled and said that was ok, she just loved Nora."
Dona, that's a good start. It will get easier with
practice.
Lynda (Milady Jane) isn't
a bookseller, but she helps the cause sometimes. "I
was in my favorite UBS talking with Diane, one of
the managers, about Nora and what she was up to
lately. We hear a voice say 'Excuse me, are you
talking about Nora Roberts?' 'Why, yes, we are,' I
reply. She tells us that she has heard how great
Nora's stories are and she said that she wants to
know what book would be good to start with. 'Any of
them' is the reply she received in stereo from
Diane and I. Then we ask her some questions. Do you
want a trilogy? Do you like suspense? Murder and
Mayhem? Straight Love stories? She tells us that
she reads all of that, but she wants to start with
a single title IN CASE SHE DOESN'T LIKE IT! Well,
Diane and I are horrified at that and assure her
that she will enjoy any of them. So, after a
lengthy discussion, she picks up Sanctuary. Diane
tells her that if she doesn't like it, her next
book will be free. We are waiting to hear!" Lynda,
you can be my assistant anytime.
Some fans have a more
bloodthirsty bend to their tastes, and Ruth at TTP
was willing to feed that bloodlust: "I talked to a
customer about Nora last time BUT she was not
interested in ROMANCE. I briefly told her about
Nora's mysteries DIVINE EVIL, etc. and of course
J.D. Robb. But, I didn't attack her YET since I
knew she'd be back. Well, today I had her convinced
to try DIVINE EVIL and NAKED IN DEATH." Good job
Ruth.
As if Ruth (KitCatXO)
isn't busy enough selling Nora's books at TTP,
she's enlisted her husband as an aide ... "Guess
what? My DH jumps right in. As soon as we get to a
bookstore, he heads for the romance and mystery
sections to see how many NR books they have. LOL
Then, he makes comments to people ... like 'My wife
works for NR's husband, you should try her books'
or 'You've never heard of NR, where have you been?'
What a guy..." The Phantom agrees.
And speaking of guys, here
are some examples of Nora's fans who are
introducing men to Nora's works
(We wouldn't want Julian
to feel lonely, after all.):
Jennifer (JennWic) is
trying to find just the right book to get her
father on board the Nora bandwagon: "My dad wrapped
up The Reef last night and just walked into his
bedroom with Montana Sky tucked under his arm. I
brought up all my hardbacks--MS, True Betrayals,
Hidden Riches, Homeport, and Sanctuary--and Naked
in Death, and he read through the blurbs and made
his selection. I'm not too hopeful that he'll read
a lot of the others, but only because he likes what
he calls 'adventure,' and your books are mostly
suspense. His objection to the Eve Dallas books was
that he doesn't like serial killers. Anyway, I
think it's pretty cool that he's starting on
another of your books. The Phantom strikes again?"
You bet.
Debby (SnowBearDM) is a
true BB/N and knows to mix fine food with
discussions of Nora's works. At Chili's in Denver,
she's been in some deep conversations with a
convert named Leo who has become something of a
connoisseur… "Over this past year we have chatted
about our books, and lives and travels ... the last
time I saw Leo was the month before TTP … so my
topic of conversation was Nora, BB's and TTP....
Well, last night Leo and I crossed paths again.
After a hearty greeting, and of course ordering
beverage and food, Leo says to me, 'I read some
books by your friend, Nora.' To which I grinned
like a fool. <G> Seems Leo really does listen
to me when I ramble on and on ... He read Rising
Tides, and then HAD to find Sea Swept, and is
eagerly awaiting Inner Harbor, and has moved to
Sanctuary and Homeport ... Of course, I did mention
Montana Sky and The Reef... and a 'gentle' push
towards JD Robb and 'In Death.' Leo said, 'Wow, she
writes steamy sex.' ... to which we agreed the
'relationships and caring sex' is MUCH steamier
than the 'body parts sex' that some other authors
seem to think of as 'sex' <G>"
Crystal (FourFtSq3) made
sure her victim couldn't run away when she applied
her Phantom skills. "We recently survived a 6-day
cross-country drive and I have to thank NORA and
her audio books for the survival :-) I brought with
me my unabridged version of Homeport then bought on
the trip Hidden Riches and Sea Swept and thoroughly
enjoyed all of them. But to my amazement my husband
listened to them too - and LOVED them - especially
Sea Swept - but was upset and had a few choice
words to say when we couldn't find Rising Tides
anywhere - not in 6 states. It was too funny seeing
him upset when a store along the way didn't have it
- gotta love him. So now he's got tape two of
Homeport in his truck and is faithfully listening
to it whenever he can - can we say the PHANTOM has
struck again?!?" You betcha.
Continuing the trend of
linking men to Nora's work, Faery Tales decided to
tackle 2 older men she overheard. "Gentleman #1 was
telling Gentleman #2 about this fantastic book he
had read, about this cop named Eve. Sez me, 'Excuse
me, but are you talking about Eve Dallas?' Sez him
(with raised eyebrows), 'Why, yes. Have you read
that book?' Sez me, 'I think you mean books, as in
multiple.' He had no idea there were more. I wrote
the list down for him, and he was going to stop at
the bookstore on his way home. Then, I see there's
a copy of Rising Tides nearby and Sanctuary too. So
I say, 'You know, these books are by the same
author.' He says, 'You're kidding!' And buys them
both. So I write down another list of titles for
him, including Montana Sky. Then I gave him my
e-mail address, because he wanted to discuss the
books with me when he's finished reading them."
Faery Tales knows how to sell and also follow
thru.
Terri (TDahms) is an equal
opportunity persuader. She tries to convince
everyone to try Nora. "I got 4 carpenter wives
hooked on Nora and two of the guys. Now they are
fighting over my In Death books. Told them they had
to buy their own. One guy bought the whole series
for his wife; I told him he did that so he could
get the benefit of his wife reading it. So we
hooked some more Nora fans." She also convinced a
teacher at the school to try Nora. I bet Terri is
keeping track of all the little ones passing thru
her library, so she can recommend Nora to them when
they're older.
Our last story is brought
to you by Edith (ApleHeart), who believes in family
and extended family, and took her brother and
sister-in-law and her 2 sisters to Nora's birthday
signing. "Armi and Linda are now NORA fans. Linda
said she'd order the Born In books as soon as she
finished reading the 5 Nora books she picked up.
Armi said that she will bring her 3 Nora books to
read on the plane next month when she goes home to
the Philippines for a visit, but she will be taking
those books back here with her and not leave them
in the Philippines. I got my brother Nora's DIVINE
EVIL to get him started - he has never read a
romance so I am hoping this will get him started.
And we were doing some Phantom work as well by
giving our suggestions on what Nora books to get to
some people who were looking at Nora's books and
who we felt could not decide what books to get.
That's all it takes to do the Phantom's work, just
a little push in the right direction! Right,
Phantom?" Right, Edith.
