It's All at the Mall

What questions are you dying to ask about shopping malls? This afternoon, I'll be interviewing my friendly, neighborhood mall manager as part of the research on upcoming book with the working title, A HOME FOR CHRISTMAS.

The original title was MALL GIRL and it opened with the line, "It's all at the mall for Sylvie Stark," who was a devoted gift-wrapper at a department store.

The story has morphed into a romance with a mystery set in the Starlight Desert Mall just before Black Friday. Sylvie is the interim manager, so she's come up in the fictional world.

Anyway, I can't wait to get the skinny on a day in the life of a mall manager. Also, I've deep into THE CALL OF THE MALL by a guy who spends every working hour studying malls and retail stores and how and why people buy what they do.

Did you know the reason covered malls are so ugly and nondescript on the outside is because they're built by property developers who own them, not by the stores. "A blank wall with a mouse hole" is how a mall architect describes it.

So throw out your questions and I'll ask them this afternoon!

Here's the book, by the way: http://tinyurl.com/qkeory

Best,
Dawn Atkins, who's putting on her shopping shoes...