(Well, actually, that wouldn’t really be your name — since you’re female, your name would be something like “Jódís Björnsdottir”. But this is the twenty-first century, and you want to be known for who you are, not for who your father was, right? Right.)

Your Viking Personality: The tougher Vikings might let you on the boat, but generally only when they need ballast. You have a thirst for battle — unfortunately, you’re not terribly good at it. You’re not a very fearsome fighter; in fact, you’d probably bleed to death if a sword hit your shadow. (True, so true!)

You would have a very tough time making a long sea voyage in a Viking longboat. Vikings make fun of you all the time. Not always behind your back, either.

You have a fairly pragmatic attitude towards life, and tend not to expend effort in areas where it would be wasted. Other people tend to think of you as manipulative and conniving.

Oh my. Want to know what your Viking name is? Take the quiz.

I spent my Saturday visiting every comic-book and bookstore in my region. I got my business cards and book fliers ready, got in my car, and went around and accosted people. Here’s my spiel:

Hi, I’m a local author. I have a book coming out in May. (Hand flier to person. Smile). I was wondering if you’d be interested in carrying a few copies or perhaps hosting a book signing. (Smile some more).

Responses varied. Some folks were really interested in what I had to say (yeah!). Others were not (meh). By the end of the day, I was exhausted — physically and mentally.

I love talking to people who read. What they like, what they don’t like. I enjoy talking about writing, creating characters, building worlds, etc. I enjoy debating the merits of various TV shows and movies and music. I don’t like to talk so much about myself, mainly because my day job as a journalist is to listen to other people speak.

But what I really don’t like is cold-calling people, which is essentially what I did Saturday. I always feel like a used car salesman, pushing stuff on people that they don’t really want. But promoting is part of being a writer, so I’ve just got to suck it up and do it anyway. Hopefully, it will get a little easier after the book comes out, and I get some name recognition going.

On the bright side, I did set up some book signings, so I’ll be posting those dates in a few weeks when I get my schedule finalized. 🙂

What about you? Do you love promoting? Dread book signings? Inquiring minds want to know …