| « A for Effort? | Get on Board with Tour Guides! » |
Feature Mon Dec 06 2010
Answers and Questions: David Heinzmann
Answers and Questions is a biweekly column that asks Chicago writers to remember the funniest or strangest things they've been asked in a question-and-answer session, during a talk, or in an interview.
If there's one thing I've learned from Say Yes to the Dress, it's to discuss how much you're planning to pay before your appointment. Otherwise, it just gets awkward. Perhaps this librarian learned that lesson after hosting a talk by David Heinzmann, a Chicago Tribune crime reporter and author of A Word to the Wise, a novel about modern-day organized crime in Chicago. Heinzmann writes:
A couple months ago I had a signing at a small library downstate (in a town where I have family connections). It went well -- I sold a bunch of books -- and as I was driving back to Chicago I received an e-mail from the librarian who set up the event. She said the library board members were talking about how wonderful the talk was, and they realized it couldn't possibly have been free. She apologized for not discussing this before and asked, what was my fee?
