Reading by the sea

When I got started writing and speaking, some author friends gave me one piece of advice for readings: “Pray for rain.” I was confused. They explained that only a few diehards go to readings on nice days.

Good tip–and yet…

In the summer, we spend as much time as possible in Chatham, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. Back in 1980, a bookstore called The Yellow Umbrella opened up. It’s a wonderful place, and they invited me to read from my first book, Scared to Death: Do it Anyway!

I’d just done an interview on Fox news’s "Zip Trips” segment, so even though It was a perfect beach day, I went to the bookstore and got ready to read.

Apparently a lot of people were watching TV that day, because the place was packed! I read from the book and took questions, and even though the temperature was over 90 degrees, people waited in line for two hours as we signed books, shared stories about managing anxiety, and had some laughs (and maybe a few tears).

Toward the end of the signing, a woman jumped out of an Uber with a book she’d bought online. She’d highlighted the ‘toolbox’ portions of the book, and even though her anxiety was intense, she decided she had to meet me and take a picture with a fellow anxiety sufferer–so we did.

Afterward, my wife Robbie and I took a walk on the beach. We talked about the TV interview and reflected on the reading, and then noticed a young woman in a beach chair–reading my book! She’d bought it after my talk, and recognized me from the author photo and jumped up for a hug. She agreed to let me take her picture with the book, and to me that photo still sums up the entire day.