It’s Saturday night. I’m sitting at my desk, having just eaten junk food for dinner, and I’m listening to a bunch of acoustic Chris Cornell songs. This is what I look like when I’m trying to quickly recover from an event.

The event today was Wordstock, the 1st instance of this annual event, in Stockton.

Let’s turn the rest of this into an informal Q&A. We all love those.

How was the event? It must have really been something if you’re binging on soulful, sad music and eating cheeseburgers.

The event was okay, but very lightly attended. There were panels, and live readings, both prose and poetry, and there was a taco truck, and pizza, and soft drinks, and a pitching event. Lots of good stuff.

Just not a ton of people, so we didn’t have a ton of sales.

Also, it was ridiculously hot. Too hot for an October afternoon in Stockton.

Are you bummed out about the sales?

Not really. Most of the people that came to our table bought something. Compared to the other vendors, we did really well, at nearly $100 for the day. Other vendors averaged around $45. It didn’t cost us anything, other than our time and gas, so that’s basically a win.

It did cost me $80 to fill my mustang, but I needed to do that, anyway. I wasn’t going to be able to put off fueling my vehicle forever.

Also, I wouldn’t say I’m bummed, per se.

Then what is all this recovery business about?

The event was lightly attended and easier than many I’ve done this year, but it still took a lot out of me. I was recently sick, and I don’t think I’m at 100% yet. Helping setup, and staying present physically and mentally took a toll on me. Driving to Stockton was the longest car trip I’ve taken since coming back from the cruise. And I had to get up early in order to get there by around 7:30AM for setup.

Once I got home, I needed to sit down and recharge, in all ways.

And sometimes these Chris Cornell binges just sort of happen on their own. No one sings like him anymore.

Are you sure you’re okay?

I’m good. Just tired, kind of emotional, and needing some comfort food and comfort music. By tomorrow, I should be right as rain. I hope.

Anything else about Wordstock?

Yeah, I think the event has a lot of potential. The world is still hungry for books. San Jose recently had a book festival, while Melissa and I were on the cruise, and I hear it was phenomenal. The Sacramento book festival has been incredible year after year, and it keeps getting bigger.

I think Wordstock has the potential. It takes a few years for events like this to build up word of mouth and inertia. The staff was extremely friendly, helpful, and even provided a bunch of free food for us vendors and participants. They have the right stuff.

For them to succeed in the future, they’ll need to find more ways to get the word out. And, from what I heard, they’ll need to figure out ways to get the event to pay for itself, maybe through charging vendors like us a small fee.

Or, maybe they just need to keep doing exactly what they’ve been doing, because like I said before, it takes a couple years before the event becomes big enough and settled enough that people just know about it.

Money and attendance aside, there was one thing that happened that made the entire event worth it, at least to me. There were a couple of High School kids that came to booth, excited about books and fiction. One is a fledgling writer, and I had the opportunity to give her encouragement, the kind of encouragement that fanned the flames when I was at her point in my writing journey. She and her brother both lit up when I spoke to them.

That, to me, made it all worth it. It made my day. Maybe my whole weekend.

Will you attend Wordstock next year?

I don’t see why not. Steven and I both had a good time.

I think that’s all I have to say about the event today. I still have a query to write and send out, before the weekend is over. Not tonight, though. Definitely not tonight.