A Bookshop Person’s Bow by Emily Owen

 

Photo by Guillermo Latorre on Unsplash

I wonder how you read the title of this blog?

The word ‘bow’ is a heteronym (I think, but please do correct me!).

A word that has different meanings depending on how it is pronounced.

 

I recently had a dilemma.

I was due to speak at an event in Wokingham. 

It had been booked in for a while.

And then I received a health diagnosis, which might have meant I could not make the event.

Or maybe it wouldn’t have meant that.

I couldn’t say for certain either way.

I dithered.

Bottom line: I wanted to do the event.

But people who had already booked in probably needed to know whether it was happening.

Bottom line: I wanted to be honourable to them.

I dithered.

And Ali, of Quench stepped in: “Let’s postpone.”

It was a good call.

 

Bookshop staff are amazing, I am in awe of all they do.

And I had the privilege of realising that ‘rescuing floundering authors’ is yet another string to their bow.

This little blog has one aim: to celebrate people who work in bookshops.

To thank them for all they do.

So, people who work in bookshops, please take a bow.

(If you like, you can bow in the bow of a boat, with a bow in your hair, and add yet another string to your bow....)