That's it, I'm boycotting those bastards!!

As some of you know, when I used to write, I normally did it in the middle of the night while the whole world slept. I had few distractions this way. Also, I smoked like a chimney because it suited me. I no longer smoke, nor do I stay up late into the wee hours to write. Instead, I try to write when I have spare time, like on the weekends lately when Phoenix is working and I'm off. I found in the past that getting the hell out of the house and going somewhere to write worked better for me because while sitting here, I will think of things that need to be done, like laundry, dishes, etc...Apparently, in the middle of the night I didn't think about doing these things, so no worries there.


Anyway, my place of choice to go write is at a local Barnes and Noble in their cafe' section. I have been going there for over a year now. I have worked on the manuscript I keep sending out. The same one that keeps getting rejected. I have also written blogs and other material there. I usually grab a frappuccino and then settle in to write for a couple of hours. For the most part, I find that by putting on my headphones, I am able to completely ignore all that goes on around me...Usually. Yesterday was a different story.


Yesterday, I was busily going through my letter of introduction to send in with my manuscript to Bold Strokes Books, when I suddenly saw someone dancing through the cafe' part of the store. The girls who work in the cafe were giggling and making some jokes with the dancing girl. She had literally flung out her arms and danced in circles as though she were seven years old and dancing through a large field of wild flowers. Seriously. Not a care in the world with that one. She looked to be in her early twenties...And guess what? She worked there too!! Who dances around at their jobs? I mean, besides dancers...Or, um, I guess we could call them "dancers" too. (Ahem, STRIPPERS!) It was weird. What was stranger was that I saw her dancing like three other times. I wondered what could make this girl so incredibly happy that she had to dance through her day at work. My imaginative mind began to twist together scenarios for her possible happiness. I considered asking her, but I feared she would end up telling me she was secretly high on marijuana or drunk or on Xanax, which is sort of like the other two, huh? Only legal. *grins* So, I didn't ask and I tried to simply ignore, though it was hard.


I also did my best to ignore the nine year old little boy who was sitting two tables away from me at a separate table from his father. The dad was ignoring the boy, so the boy kept doing things to get his attention, like drop his hi-lighters, spill his water, etc...I felt sorry for the boy. I wanted to punch the father though because I'm not sure what his deal was. He was so involved in reading the newspaper and checking for stuff on the computer. I got the feeling that the boy was having his "visitation" with his dad and it wasn't going well at all. Still, I put this aside and did what I had to do.


After submitting my manuscript, I thought to myself, "I wonder if B&N sells their books here." Seriously, I want people to be like, "I was at Barnes and Noble and saw your book, so I bought it." And yes, when I get published, you will have to buy your own damn copy. I am not handing these things out for free!! I want my MONEY! *grins* Just kidding!!! Sorta. So, before I left to go get Phoenix from work, I packed up my stuff and headed to the gay and lesbian section...


When I first moved to Phoenix and went to B&N here, I was shocked at the size of the gay and lesbian section. Back in Victorville, CA, the gay section was small...Like maybe two and a half shelves, total. Here in Phoenix, this B&N had a whole section. Like five shelves, with its own little placard showing the whole world that it was the gay section! It made me happy to see this. I was like, "my section" even though I've read like one gay book my whole life...Well, that's gay as in gay, not as in stupid. I've read tons of stupid books. But this is neither here nor there either. The point is, the section was a nice size. Each time I went to look at it, I thought, "One day my book will be here...One day."


Yesterday, I set off to look at the gay section to see if they had Bold Strokes Books. I went to where it was before and found empty shelves. I stepped back, "Qua?" You know, because I speak French in my spare time. *shifty eyes* Even the sign was missing. I headed back an aisle to see if they were moving it that way, but nope--Just Christian books there. In fact, like five aisles of Christian books. People sure have a lot to say about religion, huh? So, definitely no gay books there. Hmmm...I set off in search of the gay books. I looked everywhere!! They were gone! And I'm talking gone like the Mayans...Gone like the folks on Roanoke Island. Never to be seen again! WTF? After wandering the store like a lost puppy dog for a good five minutes, I headed to the information booth/desk. The woman working the desk was wandering the store with a phone in her hand, as though she had someone on the line, but wasn't talking to them. As I waited for her return, a woman and her daughter came to stand by me to ask a question. I was tempted to let them go first, but I thought, "I have to pick up Phoenix in a few moments...Plus, I was here first!" So, when the woman returned, I quietly asked, "Where is the section with the gay books?" She cocked her head to one side and then spoke in a loud voice, "The DAY books?" I replied quietly again, "No, ma'am, the gay books." I shot a sideways glance at the mom-daughter team by me. They both looked as confused as the B&N woman. The B&N woman asked, "Oh. The gay books?" I refrained from rolling my eyes as she just announced without the help of a bullhorn that I was looking for gay books and hissed, "Yes!" She lead me off on a wild goose chase through the store, but not before I noticed the freaked out look on the mom's face and the surprised eyes of the girl. This woman lead me around half of the store before we finally located the gay section...She said, "I know they condensed it, but I can't remember where they put it." Here's a pic of what it looks like now.





It's one shelf!! ONE SHELF!! Books on WWII have a whole fucking section. There are like five aisles of books on Christianity. I'm sure half of them say the same thing-- Listen to God. God is watching you. And gay and lesbian books get one measly shelf!! Three aisles of cookbooks to help America get fatter, but one shelf of gay books. There's even a whole section of "New Age" bullshit for those people who worship crystals and go to Sedona to have their Aura looked at by so-called experts. Yet, only one shelf for gay books. There's even a bigger section dedicated to books about Arizona, but only like twenty gay books in the store. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I was in complete and utter shock when the woman said, "Oh, here it is" and pointed to the shelf. I said a quick "Thank you" and then bit my tongue so as not to ask her if she was pulling my leg. The small town of Victorville, CA had a larger section than this!


One quick glance answered my question about Bold Strokes Books...They do carry their books, which is great, but they only had like five titles. Whatever. I walked out feeling disheartened. Is B&N owned by some Christian group now? Have they gone to the Republican side? I was pretty upset with them when they stopped carrying one of the writing magazines I liked to buy. Then they stopped carrying two other magazines I liked to check out and sometimes purchase. This though, I think is the straw that broke the camel's back. Why would they cut down the size of the section? The place where it used to be is now empty! There's like three empty sections. What are they doing now? One friend suggested they are keeping that space open for the memoirs Paris and Lindsay are surely going to write. Another said she bought up all their books, but I could come over and check out her collection if I wanted to. *rolls eyes* WTF!? I told my mom and she laughed. I said it wasn't funny because I wanted my book to be in that section! She said people could buy my book from Amazon.com. BAH! That woman is crazy, anyway. She seems to think it's okay to read books on the Nook. Seriously? A Nook doesn't have that "book smell". A Nook cannot be folded in half and abused as a good novel is when you can't put it down and you carry it with you everywhere. A Nook cannot be loaned out and passed around the group like a hooker on a Friday night. Next thing I know, she'll be saying it's okay to burn books too...Seriously, she might! She's a Republican! You never know what they're going to do next! One day they take away gay marriage. Tomorrow they may burn books. The day after that, they may go after all the daughters who talk smack to their mommies!! And my mom will lead the pack! *grins*


Basically, this is my long-winded rant to say this-- Fuck off, Barnes and Noble! As soon as I find a new place to write, I am not going back to you! I hate Borders because I can't find shit there, but I might just learn to avoid going back to B&N! Bastards!