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An evening in the open air in Torrington.

Mainstreet1Last night I was at Torrington’s Main Street Marketplace. I was lucky enough to be in the Library’s tent as part of the Torrington Author Expo with Stamfordite Rich Arruzza, who writes the Sparky’s Adventures children’s series.

Arruzzo in full Sparky regalia.

Spotted Rick.

You’ve really got to hand it to Arruzza; he was dressed head to toe in white with black spots, just like his dog, Sparky.

 

Warner, Torrington

The sign for Torrington’s Warner Theater.

I really want to thank the Torrington Library for allowing me to do this. It was a beautiful evening and a great time. I met an aspiring video game creator, talked to several other writers and had a wonderful conversation about books and literature with a couple who love books so much that they’re getting territorial about the remaining bookshelf space in their home. (This is something my husband and I can relate to.)

I only have a few photos up here. For more, head to my Facebook Author Page.

For those who live in Litchfield County in Connecticut and who want to go: The Marketplace is a weekly event held by Torrington, CT. The town shuts down Main Street every Thursday from 5-9 p.m. in the summer and brings in vendors and entertainment. It’s pretty incredible. I grew up near Torrington and its downtown is looking way better than I remember.

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See you Thursday at the Torrington Main Street Marketplace

Every Thursday evening in the summer, the town of Torrington, Connecticut closes down Main Street and fills it with vendors. It’s called the Main Street Market Place, and the event is beloved of people who live in that area.

This coming Thursday, (August 15 for those who need a date) I will be one of those vendors. That’s right, me, Beware the Hawk and The Eagle and the Arrow will be camped out in the author tent as part of the Summer Author Expo organized by the Torrington Library. I’m preparing a display for my books this evening and I’ve been trying to come up with a game I can play with passerby.

I expect to be there from 5-9 p.m. Cross your fingers, hope for good weather, and stop by and say hello to me and the other authors. (I don’t know who they are yet.)

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Writing at the library.

In a bid to get more work done, I’m moving my morning/early afternoon writing to the library. It’s not my ideal writing spot, but it works, because unlike my house, I don’t have to clean the library, answer the door, the phone or anything else.

I’ve picked the prettiest library in the area, the one with the fireplace and a limited collection. It brings back memories. My mother spent years working in a library and when I was a kid my brother and I used to take the school bus to the Oakville branch library, where she was employed. We did our homework there, did chores around the library and helped her and the two librarians close up. When it was warm, we could walk home.

Being at the library now is a strange flashback. I had forgotten about the “regulars” who collect at local libraries:  Mothers with their story-hour children, retirees, middle school kids who show up to hang out, and people who don’t have anywhere else to go. I remember them all and now I’m seeing them all again. Very little has changed. There are still the people who think of the librarians as their personal servants. There are still those who stand and gossip with the librarians. There are people who need to talk to the librarians because they simply don’t have anyone else to talk to. I know these people. I know all about these regulars –  as a child I hid behind the magazine racks and stared at them. I used to help my mother reshelve their books, and when I played too loudly in the library basement after my homework was done, my mother would shush me so that they they could read in peace.

It’s so strange that now I’m one of them.

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