The Stand(s)

        Yesterday I participated in an event in another country city. A library graciously hosted an evening with local authors. Since I had eight books I was bringing to sell, I wanted to make some bookstands.  

         My idea: take three pieces of dowel rod, put a "spot" of hot glue at the top to hold them together at the top, tipi-style, and put another spot of glue on two of the legs and attach a horizontal piece of wood, to act as a "ledge" to hold the book in place. It was going to be so easy, and would result in an extremely functional product. Or so I thought...

         I had to modify my design, because my tipi bookstands needed a fourth leg to keep them stable. I got that. I had vacillated between 3 and 4 legs at the hardware store, but decided on 3 for frugal reasons. So...modifications made.

         The three "spots" of glue didn't really cut it, either. I needed at least eighty-four several hot glue sticks for each stand. I would squirt blobs onto the top, and when it was more or less set, I'd turn it upside-down and squirt out another fifteen gluesticks' worth of glue glue stick into the inside of the pointy top part. They held together, and worked, and because of all the hot glue I had to use, they only cost approximately $63 apiece.

        While I was working late one evening this week, my husband took my visually-interesting bookstands as a challenge. He made stands with screws and nuts and bolts. (I think that's what those things are called.) The legs were adjustable, they were more stable than my stands, but each one looked like the others. Their uniformity was boring. I appeased him, and took his bookstands to the event. But deep inside my heart, I knew my stands would have attracted more crowds...When the clamoring hordes of book buyers would have caught sight of my stands, their mouths would have gaped open. I just knew it.  

          Here is a picture of the two stands having a stand-off. You be the judge.

     My husband's plain-Jane-all-the-same stand is on the left. Mine is on the right. What the camera could not capture is the enormous and numerous globs of glue glistening on and hanging from the rods. But don't let the camera's limitations sway you--you will have to use your imagination.

      And how was the event? It was fun. I chatted with several writing/publishing friends, including Marcia Gaye, Jack Zerr, Mary Horner and Robin Tidwell. 

       My next post--Marcia Gaye's "best" writing, and a book giveaway...And if you're a child of the 60's or 70's, you'll want to check it out.