Author: Jonathon

Day 13 of the Tour

Day 13 of the Tour

7:00 PM – Barnes & Noble 7433 Mineral Point Road Madison, WI 53717!

Our first time in Madison. What at a lovely town. We had a wonderful view of Lake Mendota from our hotel room. There is something about a view onto water that feeds the soul. The third week, and no matter how much we enjoy seeing everyone, we are still tired. We were feeling a little discouraged, so we called home, even though we had just left everyone this morning. Trinity was laughing on the other end of the line, even before Grandpa gave her the receiver. The sound of her laughter buoyed us through the evening. The sound of your child’s laughter also feeds the soul. Talking to Grandpa and Grandma, AKA Jon’s parents, was also a good thing. The signing was wonderful. There was over 200 people, most of whom said that they were so glad that we finally came. We try to do someplace new with every tour. But if you really want us to come to your town, talk to your bookseller of choice and have them contact the publisher. The more requests a bookseller has, the more likely they will contact the publisher. And the more contacts in a given area a publisher has, the more likely they are to send an author there.

 

Day 12 of the Tour

Day 12 of the Tour

Packing and visiting with friends and family.

If only we could convince more of our friends that we do not find their company taxing. People stayed away because they thought we wouldn’t want them to intrude on our down time. This is not an accurate assumption.

We had my friend Richard (yes the one from earlier in the blog) house sit over Friday night and we had him stay over for most of the day. The fact that he almost had lunch ready for us by the time we got home. I reciprocated by cooking him breakfast today. Mmmmmm… Bacon.

But now we pack and visit with Trinity and my parents and try to get everything ready for the flight out tomorrow.

 

Day 10 of the Tour

Day 10 of the Tour

7:00 PM – Waldenbooks 1051 Marley Station 7900 Ritchie Hwy Glen Burnie, MD 21061!

Wow! Amazing! 300 people in a mall store, with no event space and no Q & A. There was some concern that Laurell would need to cut off the line. But once Laurell assured the District Manager that everyone who stood in line would get a book signed. Once this was clear, Kim, the district manager, walked the line, making sure that everyone knew that if they waited, they would get their books signed.

We got to see Heather again, which was good, as between signing at this store, she was involved in a horrendous car accident. Her injuries, though serious, have mostly healed, and she is going through physical therapy to get back to where she was. We were glad to see her and her fiancee.

We also had a group of fans who dressed up as Anita in jeans, and another Anita in Jean-Claude party dress. There was also a full makeup zombie and a Jean-Claude. There was also a little girl dressed as Valentina, but she was more interested in getting something to eat than in the signing. These were very cool costumes.

The store arranged to have the mall proper stay open so that every one who was in line when all the stores closed would not be trapped and could stay in line.

Big thanks to all the staff, of both the store and of the mall who helped to make this a great event.

 

Day 9 of the Tour

Day 9 of the Tour

7:00 PM – Borders, 5871 Crossroads Center Baileys Crossroads, VA 22041!

Today we got to sleep in and have a chance to catch up on our rest.

We taped an interview with Tom Shaad at Fast Forward. An enjoyable and pleasant experience as always.

Next we went to the borders to do an interview with Warren Lapine of Science Fiction Chronicle. Part way through the interview we were interrupted by a message that there was a woman going into labor, and would Laurell sign her books. This set the tone for the evening. She had gotten up out of bed rest to come see Laurell, and standing in line had caused her to begin labor. Laurell signed her books so her mother could whisk her away to the hospital. After this Laurell went back to the interview, but the encounter had derailed her concentration.

The event itself was up to the store’s normal par, which is excellence. Colleen Holt, the Manager had arranged to have Trader Joe’s cater the event with Chocolate Cake, Strawberries, and Garlic Hummas.

The around 200 people has fun and so did we, even though it was another long night of us. This was also the event where Laurell had the most questions from people who hadn’t finished the book. They were asking about things that happened in Cerulean Sins. All the fans who had finished the book went “oooooohh.”

This has been the book that the most people have asked, “when will this character have this happen?” And it is obvious that they haven’t finished the book, because the event they ask about happens in the book, just a little later on than they have read.

P.S. A special welcome to David! His mom Veronica is the one who went into labor while waiting. His very proud Grandma Mary let us know both are doing well! Cannot you not imagine his mother telling him where she was when she went into labor? What a story for a kid. smile

 

Day 8 of the Tour

Day 8 of the Tour

7:00 PM – Wordsworth Books 30 Brattle St Cambridge, MA 02138!

Boston. Our first trip here and it was a pleasant one. Laurell finished the new Robert B. Parker Spencer novel on the flight in. We met another author, Sidartha Deb and his wife, at an interview. We found them both to be charming. We had our media escort give us the nickel tour of Boston Common in the limited down time available.

The Event was moved at the last minute to the First Congregational Church of Boston. The event was phenomenal, in that it sold all the books in Harvard Square. We had one young lady drive in from Maine, but she didn’t have a copy of Cerulean Sins, and Wordsworth Books had sold their entire inventory of the new book. One of the other fans got out of line, went to another book store, and bought her a copy.

How cool is that? Laurell has the coolest fans.

 

Day 7 of the Tour

Day 7 of the Tour

7:30 AM – Live Radio Interview WMAX 102.3 “Lambert and Lindsay Show”

7:00 PM – Hawley-Cooke Booksellers 3024 Bardstown Road Louisville, KY 40222!

Happy Birthday to me

Its my birthday, and thanks to all the people that wished me a happy birthday. The event today was nice and pleasant and around 200 people.

We got to meet a group of Post-Op Nurses who discuss the series over patients who are just coming out of anesthesia. They have actually created a few new fans from this behavior. I’m making this short and abrupt because we have a 5:15 pickup to the airport tomorrow, to get to Boston, and I’d like to have as much sleep as possible.

Day 6 of the Tour

Day 6 of the Tour

10:00 AM -Live Radio Interview WMST-AM “Tom & Judy Show”

12:00 PM – Live Interview WLEX-TV (NBC) “Let’s Do Lunch”

5:00 PM – Live Radio Interview WMJK-FM “Drew Thomas Show”

7:00 PM – Joseph-Beth 161 Lexington Green Circle Lexington, KY 40503

Again, this was a wonderful event. I saw an amazing crowd and got to meet a number of amazing fans. Including one lady who’s greyhound has a penchant for sleeping with her copy of Blue Moon!

It has been a busy day with all the media and the signing, and then the drive to Louisville, so I’m going to call it early, and say that I’ll type something more tomorrow.

 

Day 5 of the Tour

Day 5 of the Tour

Today we woke up at home, in our own bed, with our daughter, Trinity down the hall, and the dogs downstairs. It was wonderful. We got twenty-four hours at home with the kiddo and the puppies. But we were supposed to be traveling out again. A travel day. we began the day by forgetting to turn our clocks forward, so we slept too late. Luckily, our friend, Richard (no, not that Richard, they don’t even look alike)was bringing cinnimmon rolls for breakfast. His timely arrival saved us from sleeping through everything. Luckily, also, he and Trinity get along well, because they got to visit while we dressed. Then Jon’s parent’s arrived, and we got to visit with everyone. They even brought the weasel-hund, also known as Missy, who is really a miniature long-haired dauchshund, but we prefer weasel-hund. She’s been sharing Grandma and Grandpa with our tawny horde of three.

Long before we were ready to leave, the car arrived, and it was time to go to the airport. sigh.

Unfortunately, our flight was cancelled. A semi-frantic call to New York got us a new flight, but hours later. We got to eat lunch at the airport, and be singled out for new and more interesting security measures. I think it had something to do with our ticket being changed at last minute, or something. Or maybe we just looked suspicious. Who knows?

We got to see Detroit, an unplanned diversion, but finally we arrived in Lexington. Instead of early afternoon, it was 10:30 at night, but at least we got here. If our change of plans had made us miss an event, then our new motto to be positive and look on the brighter side of things, would have been more severely tested. Here’s hoping that none of us is more severely tested in the days to come.

Gotta go.