So we’re still looking for a location in San Antonio to open our bookstore/bar. First strike was Holy Haunted Hot Dog Magic Church Bookstore.
Last week I checked out The Spire:
It was gorgeous and accessible but there were issues with parking and it was a bit out of my budget to be comfortable so, strike two.
Looking at more places this week. Wish me luck.
First off, your suggestions and support about the bookstore I want to open were AMAZING and you seriously made me cry but in a good way. In the spirit of keeping you in the loop since this is now *our* bookstore (as apparently almost all of you also want to open a bookstore or at least live in one) I have to tell you that I started scouting locations and the one I just looked at is an abandoned, haunted, 100-year-old church where Victor and I once saw an amateur magic show back when it was a fancy gourmet hotdog restaurant. This is all true. It is haunted as fuck and IT HAS A BAR IN IT and stained glass everywhere and a stage for readings and I thought it was totally the place, even though the outside was overgrown and something had died in the wall and it needed a lot of work. Then we found out that the elevator doesn’t go to the mezzanine and it’s too small a space without it and accessibility is one thing we won’t blink on. So sadly, Holy Haunted Hot Dog Magic Church Bookstore is not meant to be, which was very disappointing especially since that name fucking sings and it would be a great place for me to haunt in the afterlife.
Seriously though…look at it.
I mean…y’all.
Staircase to the mezzanine, which is gorgeously creepy and incredibly problematic.
The stage is awesome though so maybe they’ll let us rent it sometimes for author readings or ghost-hunting slumber parties.
So…the search continues next week. Let me know if you have any other suggestions for San Antonio locations and I’ll keep you posted.
********
And on an entirely different subject, it’s time for the Sunday wrap-up!
Shit I made in my shop (Named “EIGHT POUNDS OF UNCUT COCAINE” so that your credit card bill will be more interesting.):
This week’s wrap-up is brought to you by the lovely people who make up Soul Happy. I’ll let them introduce themselves: “We are 2 middle-aged, seasoned, menopausal, fed-up psychotherapists. We are out to disrupt traditional talk therapy (which is what we did for decades). We pooled our knowledge, experience, and resources, and developed a radical way to heal. We just knew there had to be a better way to move people through their issues without rehashing over and over blah, blah, blah…not to mention the current dumbed down mani-pedi-therapy culture. We accomplished developing a quick, less painful and more effective, affordable, online at-home technique.” You should check them out here.
So.
There’s something I’ve wanted to do my whole life and it’s always seemed like a pipe dream because I’m easily overwhelmed and forever terrified, but recently I’ve learned that if you don’t at least try you never actually have a chance of it coming true. I also know that I let my anxiety trip me up and paralyze me and sometimes the only way that I actually accomplish anything is by writing about it so that it becomes true and also so that you guys can yell at me when I start to doubt myself and hide.
So, after years of thinking about it…I think I’m going to open a real, live bookstore.
Wow. That’s scary to even write.
It will be smallish and independent and will be filled with all the books that I want to read and that I want you to read too. It will have space for authors to come and talk, and for readers to hide away in cubbies, and for groups to meet for book clubs and writing workshops. It will have a small space for writers who need to write but who also want to not just hide away in their houses all day. And I’ll be there too, writing and working and asking random readers if I can read the chapter I’m working on to them.
In my mind it is filled with shop cats and surprise ferrets and a margarita bar and old wooden shelves and new, lovely books and people who won’t talk to you unless you totally want them to. In Victor’s mind I’m not allowed to bring any animals into the bookstore unless they’re strapped to my chest in a Baby Bjorn so that they don’t snuggle with people who don’t like ferrets. I disagree because I don’t think those people exist and also Victor just read this post and said that he never agreed strap-on chest ferrets but I guess these are the things we’ll need to work out as responsible business people.
There will be online clubs so that you can drop in to the store every week even if you don’t live in San Antonio, and live-streamed events where you can show up in your pajamas at the store or from your laptop, and one day if it makes a profit I’ll have bookmobile so that I can drive around to book deserts like my hometown which currently has no bookshop and makes me very sad. Also, the bookmobile will be filled with adoptable rescue kittens and raspberry donuts and I’ll pick up people along the way and we’ll go on road trips to visit authors and give out free books to kids AND OMG I’M SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS.
*deep breath*
Sorry.
So here’s where you come in.
I have a lot of ideas and surprises that I’m working on but honestly I’d love to hear your ideas. What makes a bookstore great for you? What should we totally have or not have? What’s your favorite bookshop ever and why?
And if you live locally I have another favor. I’ve found a few spaces that are nice but maybe not perfect so I’m asking for your eyes because I don’t want miss something amazing. Do you know of an open space in San Antonio that needs a bookshop? Victor is leaning toward something in a nice, new shopping center with lots of light and a small bar and great landlords. I’m leaning toward a haunted Victorian with a friendly ghost and giant chairs and maybe it’s also infested with otters. We both agree that it should be 2800 to 4500 square feet with lots of parking for events and wonderful, lovely energy.
Thoughts?
THINGS I LOVE TODAY: THESE SOCKS
