My new go-to accessory…the cat scarf.

In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines…Wait! That’s not quite right.
In an old house in Big Stone Gap, VA that is covered with books and kittens… That’s more like it.

Hello all! I’m the “shop-sitter”, Deanna. I’m holding down the fort while Jack and Wendy gallivant around Scotland. I drove out here from Kansas City, Missouri (NOT Kansas!) The Missouri is quite important, as my KC friends understand, on a summertime adventure. I needed to come to the mountains. Needed to.

This book selling life is not for the faint of heart. This morning I began the day by moving a kitten out my bed, feeding medication to dogs, straightening bookstore shelves, scooping litter boxes, trying to locate books for online sales, feeding a kitten gravy from a spoon, and running to the post office across the street. Whew! I thought I was gonna be able to just read all day while looking up intermittently at the mountains.

So far I’m a pretty decent bookseller. I think my trick, totally discovered by accident, is my growing mountain (see what I did there?) of books that I’m planning to take back home. It is source of conversation and I’ve managed to sell multiples to other book-lovers. I even had to give one to a customer from my personal stack. I’m learning about the sacrifices booksellers have to make. It’s easier to sacrifice when you’re in the mountains.

At the end of the day, I’ll take myself on a little drive throughout the mountains in my little convertible, weather permitting. It’s a bit misty today and the mountains look a bit “smoky”. I’ll finish the day with a glass of wine, a book and bath in the big cast iron tub upstairs. Oh yeah, there’s a view of the mountains from it.