“What a good idea!” “I like it!” “What a great cover!” These are just a sample of the initial responses to The Crossings Guide to Oregon’s Coastal Spans. I’m still floating! I saw a friend at a concert at the Florence Events Center last night and she had bought the book only moments after it had been placed a week ago Thursday at Laurel Bay Gardens (a nursery and landscape business in Florence). After reading it from cover to cover, she liked the concept and was most impressed with the organization.

On my trips up and down the coast this past week, the booksellers liked the concept of a bridge guide small enough to put in your backpack, purse, or glove compartment and thought it was a “good price point.” Librarians liked the sturdiness—especially the stiffness of the pages. And everyone liked the full-page color photos. Just like in Florence, everywhere I went, no one said, “No!”

One bookseller couldn’t decide between five or six. I handed her the five copies, and then held up one more and said, “Take another one. They’re small.” She did. I hadn’t planned to say that; it just popped out. At another venue, the owner couldn’t decide between two and three, and this time I said it intentionally. Once again, it worked. With this smaller book, it may become a useful sales technique.

I’ll get all my clichés out of the way at once here. This past week I was “on the road again,” “back in the groove,” and “the fun continued.”

This bookstore has its own coffee shop, great signs, good selection of books, and carries both my books.

On Monday, I took a friend to the airport in North Bend and afterwards, used that opportunity to visit the venues that carry Crossings in North Bend, Coos Bay, Charleston, and Bandon. None of these were cold calls; I had called ahead to say when I would be there.

I stopped at the Coos County Historical & Maritime Museum that has carried Crossings since the beginning. Way back in July 2011, they were one of the first to ask me to do a presentation about the book. They had asked for 10 copies of The Crossings Guide as soon as they heard about it last fall.

What could be better than a bookstore with its own coffee shop!

Books on the Bay, also in North Bend, had also requested copies of the Guide when they first heard about it. This is not only a bookstore, but home to The Grounds Gourmet Coffee & Espresso Cafe. Who doesn’t like a bookstore with its own coffee shop. I also love their signs––a delightful place.

The Visitor Information Center in Coos Bay has carried Crossings since the summer of 2011 and also took 10 copies of the Guide. Their new building, located between the one-way north and south lanes of Highway 101, is wonderful.

This is the place to get info about North Bend, Coos Bay, or Charleston a.k.a. The Bay Area.

My contact at the Coos Bay Public Library was out sick, but the library has been very supportive with Crossings in circulation and invited me to do a presentation there last spring.

The new Visitor Information Center in Coos Bay is only a few years old.

Charleytown MarketPlace in Charleston has carried Crossings from the beginning and now carries both of my books.

CharleyTown MarketPlace is a delightful place to shop in Charleston that carries products produced on the Oregon Coast.

The same can be said for Bandon’s WinterRiver Books. Once again, I succumbed to the Shannon Martin line and bought Post it-type notes and refrigerator magnets with marvelously funny sayings paired with period photos. I bought these as future gifts.

This bookstore in Bandon is a favorite, not only do they carry my books, but they carry the Shannon Martin line.

It was just last September that I gave a presentation at the Bandon Public Library, which also has both my books in circulation.

The Bandon Public Library. Notice the gulls on the roof.

So all in all, the trip was successful and like visiting old friends. I got home about 6 p.m. just as it was getting dark. It had been a clear, cold day with little wind.

Bottom  line: I sold 32 books and left one at the Coos Bay Library that is a probable sale. Unlike the winter weather of Florence last week, it had been one of those fabulous blue holes of winter with spectacular ocean views––totally enjoyable.

Note: Last week I had grandiose plans to also make it up the coast and over to Eugene this week to place the new Guide. Well, I did make it up the coast, but not over to Eugene. That would’ve been just too much. I’ll write about the trip from Florence to Lincoln City next week. It was fantastic––my best day of selling books ever! . . . And I’ll try again to make it to Eugene.

To buy CROSSINGS:

Crossings: McCullough’s Coastal Bridges, which gives equal coverage to the building of Highway 101, the career of Conde B. McCullough, and the exciting path to funding of the five major coastal bridges as well as covering in detail the building of those bridges, can be yours for $24.95 plus $4.99 shipping. Order from Pacific Publishing at http://www.connectflorence.com or pacpub@oregonfast.net or through me at crossingsauthor@hotmail.com. It is also available on the coast in bookstores, museums, and gift shops; in Eugene at the airport, the historical museum, and several bookstores; in Portland at Powell’s and the Oregon Historical Society; in Made in Oregon stores throughout the state; and more and more bookstores, libraries, and museums in western Oregon. This book makes a good coffee-table book.

To buy THE CROSSINGS GUIDE:

The second book The Crossings Guide to Oregon’s Coastal Spans takes the reader bridge by bridge down the Oregon Coast, covering 15 of the most impressive spans and has at least one color and one historic photo for each one. The cost is $15 plus shipping. This new book can also be ordered through Pacific Publishing or me through crossingsauthor@hotmail.com. It is many places on the coast between Lincoln City and Bandon and soon will be in most places that carry Crossings. When heading for the coast, don’t drive 101 without it.

Current happenings:

The half-hour interview with Dr. Veronica Esagui for the “Author’s Forum” program on public access TV in the Portland Metro area ran June 1-14, 2012, but can be seen on YouTube in two parts: Google Judy Fleagle YouTube.

Upcoming events:

February 9, 9 a.m. –5 p.m., Bridge Tour, Outward Ventures, Florence campus, Lane Community College––I’ll be the tour guide on this trip that includes 12 bridges with many stops from Depoe Bay to Coos Bay and has a lunch break at Tidal Raves in Depoe Bay. Now that the new catalogs are out, sign up at the Florence campus or online. A fee will be involved. This will be such fun; I can hardly wait!