[Castle] "Judging by It's Cover" (PG)
May. 25th, 2013 06:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mtxref_ficAuthor's Note: Written for any, any, best-selling author, but is it worth reading? In which Rick eavesdrops in a bookstore (which I've based on the sadly shuttered Cornerstones Bookshop, which used to be one of my own hangouts in Salem, Mass.).
The Spyglass Bookstore: one of that fading breed of mom and pop bookstores where a person could browse for hours, curl up in a comfortable chair with an especially good find, or even find a quiet corner in which to write. They'd added a coffee bar in a bid to compete with the Starbucks nook in the Barnes & Noble down the street, but that had neither added to nor detracted from the charm of the place. It had been one of his hangouts when he had been writing his first books, trying to break in as a new writer.
Now it was just as fun to snoop around the place, eavesdropping on people in the "Mysteries" section, or over by the "New Books" shelf near the front of the store. The conversations he ended up hearing could be quite revealing or amusing.
In this case, he'd spotted a bespectacled girl with a fedora tilted on her head and a sandy-haired, lantern-jawed guy about the same height as Fedora Girl, going through the New York Times Bestseller shelf.
"Oooh, the new Nikki Heat novel," Fedora Girl said, with a rustle of pages as she flipped through the book. "No surprise that it's on the bestseller list."
"Yeah, but is it any good? Things that popular usually wind up being the biggest disappointment," Guyfriend said. "Look at Dan Brown or the Twilight books."
"Well, duh, those two are a given. Have you ever even read a Rick Castle novel?" Fedora Girl asked.
"Don't they have a lot of sex and violence in them?" Guyfriend asked. Castle had to grit his teeth to keep from laughing too loud at this.
"We-elll, they're murder mysteries, so duh, they're going to have *implied* violence and maybe a shoot-out between the bad guys and the good guys," Fedora Girl said.
"But what about the sex scenes aren't they sort of." Guyfriend cleared his throat and added, "Steamy", as if he were saying a completely horrible word. Well, that was a switch: guys usually loved the sex scenes even if they didn't admit to it, while the girls cringed at the violence.
"Yeah, but they aren't the be-all and end-all of the novel," Fedora Girl said. "Besides, sex is a normal and healthy thing, while violence is... not healthy, physically, morally or spiritually."
"Why not try the Left Behind books?" Guyfriend suggested, innocently.
Castle heard a light thump and an "OW!" from Guyfriend. "Now *you're* being violent," he argued.
"That was a tap, stop being a wuss, Matt," Fedora Girl said. "Nikki Heat books might not exactly be Shakespeare, but they look it next to the Left Behind books."
Castle just had to step in and met his fan. "Hey there, sorry for eavesdropping, but it was pretty hard not to overhear," he said.
Fedora Girl's eyes widened behind her glasses. "Oh... my gosh," she sputtered. "He's him. I mean, you're you. I mean... you're Rick Castle."
"So you're the guy who keeps Allison up all night reading," Guyfriend -- Matt, rather, said, and Castle detected a hint of jealousy in the set of his mouth.
"Only because I can't put the books down," Allison twitted back. "Would you, uh, would mind autographing this for me?" she added, holding up the book in her hands.
"Of course: anything for a fan who takes me -- as in my books -- to bed," Castle said, taking the book, flipping to the title page and taking a pen from his breast pocket to sign it.
The Spyglass Bookstore: one of that fading breed of mom and pop bookstores where a person could browse for hours, curl up in a comfortable chair with an especially good find, or even find a quiet corner in which to write. They'd added a coffee bar in a bid to compete with the Starbucks nook in the Barnes & Noble down the street, but that had neither added to nor detracted from the charm of the place. It had been one of his hangouts when he had been writing his first books, trying to break in as a new writer.
Now it was just as fun to snoop around the place, eavesdropping on people in the "Mysteries" section, or over by the "New Books" shelf near the front of the store. The conversations he ended up hearing could be quite revealing or amusing.
In this case, he'd spotted a bespectacled girl with a fedora tilted on her head and a sandy-haired, lantern-jawed guy about the same height as Fedora Girl, going through the New York Times Bestseller shelf.
"Oooh, the new Nikki Heat novel," Fedora Girl said, with a rustle of pages as she flipped through the book. "No surprise that it's on the bestseller list."
"Yeah, but is it any good? Things that popular usually wind up being the biggest disappointment," Guyfriend said. "Look at Dan Brown or the Twilight books."
"Well, duh, those two are a given. Have you ever even read a Rick Castle novel?" Fedora Girl asked.
"Don't they have a lot of sex and violence in them?" Guyfriend asked. Castle had to grit his teeth to keep from laughing too loud at this.
"We-elll, they're murder mysteries, so duh, they're going to have *implied* violence and maybe a shoot-out between the bad guys and the good guys," Fedora Girl said.
"But what about the sex scenes aren't they sort of." Guyfriend cleared his throat and added, "Steamy", as if he were saying a completely horrible word. Well, that was a switch: guys usually loved the sex scenes even if they didn't admit to it, while the girls cringed at the violence.
"Yeah, but they aren't the be-all and end-all of the novel," Fedora Girl said. "Besides, sex is a normal and healthy thing, while violence is... not healthy, physically, morally or spiritually."
"Why not try the Left Behind books?" Guyfriend suggested, innocently.
Castle heard a light thump and an "OW!" from Guyfriend. "Now *you're* being violent," he argued.
"That was a tap, stop being a wuss, Matt," Fedora Girl said. "Nikki Heat books might not exactly be Shakespeare, but they look it next to the Left Behind books."
Castle just had to step in and met his fan. "Hey there, sorry for eavesdropping, but it was pretty hard not to overhear," he said.
Fedora Girl's eyes widened behind her glasses. "Oh... my gosh," she sputtered. "He's him. I mean, you're you. I mean... you're Rick Castle."
"So you're the guy who keeps Allison up all night reading," Guyfriend -- Matt, rather, said, and Castle detected a hint of jealousy in the set of his mouth.
"Only because I can't put the books down," Allison twitted back. "Would you, uh, would mind autographing this for me?" she added, holding up the book in her hands.
"Of course: anything for a fan who takes me -- as in my books -- to bed," Castle said, taking the book, flipping to the title page and taking a pen from his breast pocket to sign it.
