Mark your calendar!  Saturday, June 18^th, 1:00 – 3:00, Oysterville Store, Meet the Author.  (That would be me!)  I’ll be signing my new book, Jailhouse Stories from Early Pacific County.  And, as storekeeper Greg Rogers says, “There will be a book talk at one o’clock.”

Presenting a new book is always interesting.  I’ve had some practice doing it, myself, but I’m even more experienced at watching other authors introduce their books.  During the decade that Nyel and I owned the Bookvendor in Long Beach, we hosted many “Meet and Greet” events for authors.  That was during the 1990s when publishers were still sending authors ‘on tour’ with new books – a practice that has all but stopped in this era of e-books, self-publishing, and a much beleagured, struggling communication industry.

I like to watch how potential buyers approach a new book.  If it’s a paperback (like Jailhouse Stories), the blurb on the back cover often gets scanned first.  Sometimes, it’s a quick look at the illustrations.  But, I suspect with this new book of mine, it will be the index that gets the initial once-over.

More than one person has already asked me if any of their forebears show up in the book.  It’s possible, of course, but probably unlikely.  The parameters are fairly narrow:  those booked into the Pacific County jail between April 15, 1886 and September 20, 1919 or those connected with law and order here during that same period of time.  And a few others.  The index lists most of the 591 men and women who spent time behind bars here in those years – even for a day.  And a few others…

I hope, though, that interest goes beyond those who were unfortunate enough to run afoul of the law.  It’s the ‘for what’ and the ‘why’ questions that are far more interesting.  Crime (or at least those transgressions that are punished), like all other social problems, erupt in waves of ‘popularity.’  During those years in our County, whether it was being ‘drunk and disorderly’ or an ‘underage woman’ or a person deemed ‘insane,’ arrests reflected not so much the laws on the books, but the concerns of the community at any given time.

The book takes a peek at the history that’s often swept under that proverbial rug of respectability – right here in Pacific County!  I think readers will find it illuminating even if they don’t see familiar names in the index!