But true learning doesn’t happen until we move all those facts and figures from our brain to our heart.
Through the years I’ve learned more than I can ever measure from the people I’ve met and the places where I’ve been lucky or unlucky enough to be. And I’ve also learned that there are an awful lot of things I don’t know – and probably never will.
And the result of all this?
I’ve written a book about the things I think I’ve learned about travel, people, books, bookstores and what they’ve taught me. Books, or to be more accurate, stories, have been part of my life since before I learned to read. We live in a world of stories, some of our own creation, sometimes as characters [hopefully, not pawns] in the lives of others. There are people living lives the rest of us would consider fantasy. Others live in worlds that would make Stephen King cringe. Most of us inhabit a universe somewhere between, with highs and lows, good days and bad days. Hopefully the good days outnumber the bad.
So what’s the book about and where did it come from?
It’s a collection of pieces from a year’s wandering through Ireland’s world of independent booksellers. For the most part I avoided the places you’ll see in the tourist guides. And even when I was in a tourist town, my destinations were local pubs, coffee shops and bookshops, not an old castle or cathedral. [Have you heard of ABC tourism? Another Bloody Castle/Cathedral?]. Sometimes I talk about the people I’ve met along the way. Other times, about my own experience on the road. And there are even a few times where I fall back on my old business days and look at the local bookstore from a retailing perspective in today’s much more competitive world.
I share what I’ve learned – about Ireland’s witchcraft trials; the relationship between Rapunzel and a Catholic saint; ending a marriage in pre-divorce Ireland; what to do when your wake-up call is the hotel’s fire alarm; being stuck in a rental car where you can’t turn off the radio. I was reminded of things that most of us already know: that you can’t tell a book by its cover or rely on online maps to always get you where you want be. The most important lesson? The things we learn from people-watching: keeping your eyes and ears open while your mouth remains shut.
The project started when I read a piece about Ireland’s independent bookstores. In the midst of reading reports of stores closing because of chains, online competition and screen-readers of various stripes, it was a piece of good news. I accept the irony that I was reading the newspaper’s online edition rather than its hardcopy newsprint version. I enjoyed the piece and went on with my day. And an idea percolated while I procrastinated: for a road trip to each of these stores, not just to see the stores and the towns that support them, but to buy a new book from each independent retailer, as well.
Of course there’s more irony in my book on indies appearing on the Big A. But it’s a niche book appealing to a niche market and I have to consider printing and distribution costs. I’m using words I thought I’d never say: Available exclusively on Amazon. So the only way you can get the book in either eBook or paperback form is thru Amazon. Should I start wearing a big red “A” on my chest?
In the US, go to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CSGFQFX5. If you’e in the EU, you can go to the German or any other EU site, since Brexit is preventing UK shipments – https://www.amazon.de/-/en/James-Patrick-Maney/dp/1736567950/
Hope you enjoy the book and tell your friends about it. And if you don’t enjoy it? Please tell your enemies how wonderful it is.
If you follow any of my social media accounts, here are some of the ads you’ll be seeing. [Oh, and something I’ve just learned – even if you don’t own a Kindle, you can download a Kindle app reader for free, so you can read the eBooks Amazon sells.] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CSGFQFX5 or https://www.amazon.de/-/en/James-Patrick-Maney/dp/1736567950/
