Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 6/28

My schedule was thrown off today, as I accompanied Arlynn on a trip to one of her many doctors. What a fiasco. The guy's partners have both retired, so he is there alone. Patients waited four hours to see him. For some reason, he lets Arlynn cut the line. She was there only two hours. By the time we returned, after a couple of more stops, I was not in the right frame of mind to set up shop. I took a nap, ate, then went out. Although I didn't sell many books, I did run into Bob Rubenstein, whose second novel, The White Bridge, I'm editing. 85 pages in, I've found it confusing and unfocused. And we have such different styles of prose. Mine is direct. His is verbose, florid. That makes me wonder if I simply don't get what he is trying to accomplish. I told him to ignore my revisions if he thought they were bunk. I really dreaded telling him what I thought, as he's been very kind, buying my books and recommending them to others. I know how precious a writer's work is to himself. Fortunately, he took it very well. I was so relieved. His first novel, Ghost Runners, on which he worked on and off for 25 years, is so much more focused. I believe The White Bridge is in its first draft. I suggested he slow down. I've made so many grammatical and prosaic changes I'm afraid he'll think I'm co-opting it. I do only five pages at a time. I want to help and hope I'm not hurting. I told him how hard it is for me to sit back and enjoy any book. As I'm reading, the writer in me emerges. I imagine how I would have said certain things, how I would have punctuated them. It can be very annoying. Fortunately, I don't view movies and TV shows the same way. I simply enjoy them.
Thanks to everyone who bought books the past two days, and to the kind Russian gentleman who offered me a peach yesterday. Unfortunately, I've noted that one of my regulars, Simone, has avoided me this week. I hope she isn't haven't financial problems.
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Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 6/23

I feel like a bum. I didn't set up shop today, as the forecast was grim. While a lot of the tri-state area has been pummeled, Brooklyn hasn't seen more than sprinkles. I could very easily have set up shop under the shelter of the viaduct, but I chose to attend to chores instead. Of course, I'm wondering if the percentages would have come due and I would have sold one of my own books today. Maybe I missed that one in a thousand chance and the wheel has now moved back to zero. While I'm way behind last year's pace in terms of my own books, I'm way ahead on used books and miscellaneous income, thanks to Arlynn. I've also built my paypal account to over $300, courtesy of various survey sites. I have a nice sum to buy copies of my own books, when - if - I'll ever need them.
I made a trip to Target, forgetting about the traffic slowdown on the ever-crowded, ever-repair-mode Belt Parkway. It took a half hour instead of the ten minutes it should have required. And I forgot my cell phone. I had that annoying "This is the day I'll have an accident" feeling, which nags me occasionally even when I have the device. I've never had an accident - the percentages are due. We all have our neuroses, I guess.
I take my cell phone outside only when I intend to drive, otherwise treating it like a landline. It is amazing how vulnerable I feel not having it in the car. We did without them for decades. Fortunately, I didn't have an accident. I replaced my electric razor, which is so old Norelco doesn't make replacement blades for that model any more. I also bought a pair of sneakers. And I spent a lot of the day reading. And my hip got some rest. It's fallen back to 75%. I hope it comes back to the 90's. I dread the thought that it will get a lot worse before it gets better.
Now I will work on my friend Bob Rubenstein's second novel, The White Bridge. Maybe I won't feel like such a bum.
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