Parisian Phoenix Publishing

I drove from the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania to Atlanta, Georgia to host a workshop on erotic fiction writing at SexDownSouth in Galleria 2 of the Downtown Hilton at 4 p.m. today.

So… this is really happening…

I drove the whole distance, my trusted 2015 Jetta turbo and I, and to break up the miles I decided, and I decided this on Monday no less because the best ideas are last minute ones, to find some independent bookstores along the route.

Keep in mind, I spent the weekend with my friends in D.C., and planned to split the trip into two days from there. I considered visiting bookstores in D.C., but it was not only Labor Day and most of them were closed on Monday even without the holiday.

First stop: Persnickety Books

I left Washington, D.C., at 7:15 a.m., with an ambitious 500+ miles I wanted to cover. I found the following independent bookstores that made my final list:

• Black Swan Books, Richmond, Va.
• Shelf Life Books, Richmond, Va.
• Fountain Books, Richmond, Va.
• Regulator Books, Durham, N.C.
• Golden Fig Books, Durham, N.C.
• Letters, Durham, N.C.
• Books Do Furnish a Room, Durham, N.C.
• Purple Crow Books, Hillsborough, N.C.
• Persnickety Books, Burlington, N.C.
• Hub City Bookshop & Press, Spartanburg, N.C.
• Tangled Web Comics & Books, Spartanburg, N.C.Share

I only visited two, although I intended to visit four. Time and fatigue prevented me from hitting as many as I would have liked. The Richmond stores lost out because I reached Richmond around 10 a.m. and the bookstores didn’t open until 11 or 12. In Durham, many were closed Monday and Tuesday.

The two I did see are Persnickety Books in Burlington, N.C., and Hub City Bookshop in Spartanburg. Both have a presence on Tiktok which got me excited about seeing them and made me feel like I knew them, and both have a mission in addition to “being a bookstore.”

Persnickety Books, where the owner said she liked my cat logo as soon as I walked in the door, sells used books and hires formerly incarcerated people. They say they “give books and people a second chance.” I introduced myself and found a copy of Emily Henry’s Book Lovers for $7. I’ve wanted to read it, but I don’t like Emily Henry enough to pay full price.

Their logo is a cat.

Second stop: Hub City Bookshop & Press

At Hub City, I stumbled in as they were about to start an author event, and that book looked sharp! Hardcover, metallic, and came sealed which makes me ask what’s inside. I bought a gift for my daughter there. They are actually a non-profit supporting southern writers since 1995. The Hub City Writers Project works to “cultivate readers and nurture writers.” They have quite a distinguished history including national recognition and grants from entities like the National Endowment for the Arts.

(And they also have an in-store cat!)

I swear I did not know these cat connection coincidences.

Final Stops: Georgia Bookstores

• Walls Of Books: A chain of used bookstores, I visited the one in Commerce, Ga. Bought three old paperbacks. Really wanted a book on found on Hebrew and English and the Old Testament but it was almost $20 and I can’t read Hebrew.
• The Book Nook: A strange used everything store in Lilburn, Ga. This was the only place I didn’t talk to anyone because the people and the customers were all really old. And it was the only place I walked into where nobody talked to me. They had everything from records to comics to books and DVDs. And a cat-themed ladies room.
• Phoenix & Dragon: A spiritual bookstore on the outskirts of Atlanta. I had to go and find a witchy present for Eva. And the name! They had three cats who live in the store. Best collection of tarot cards I gave ever seen in one place.

I did end up buying several books. And some witchy stuff. I arrived in downtown Atlanta at 3, was in my room by 3:30, at presenter registration by 4, and back in my room by 4:30.

Funny story: I was completely wiped out. I showered, put on my pretty black dress and went down to the networking mixer.The networking mixer was 6 to 7:30 p.m. and since I’m awkward in crowds I thought it would be great to break the ice. I wandered around two floors of this damn hotel and could not find the entrance to the bar. I knew it was on the lower level, but it wasn’t until I was on the elevator giving up that I gazed out the door and saw another elevator across the way. I did not depart. By then, the mixer would be in it’s final 15 minutes.

I am on the 14th floor. I left my window blinds open all night so I could see the skyline. The elevators are so fast and the hurt my ears.