The Tour

I'm counting down the days until the tour begins, and I am a little nervous about the whole thing. When I got the book contract and the plans for the fall started coming together, I had little idea of what it all meant. I looked online for accounts of first time authors on first time tours, but didn't find anything. Luckily, there are wonderful people at Grove Atlantic and they patiently answer all my questions with no apparent incredulity. Still, it is a unknown land I enter into.

As Pete Seager sang "as I travel you can travel with me too."...ON THE TOUR.

Pre-tour (9 days before flight 1)
Today I answered e-mails. There was a sudden problem with the Albuquerque reading, a conflict of events. The date was changed to one day earlier, advertising shifted, and of course, the day I fly changed. The wonderful Elizabeth, Grove publicist, is figuring out my flight needs for the Canada and the Montana legs of the tour.

I was invited to stay longer in Montana and take part in the Summit Salon in Banff at the Banff Center after finishing at the WordFest in Calgary. The place, the event, sound fantastic. It also means I fly straight to Montana afterwards rather than back to California then to Montana.

I've been passing out the invitations to the Avid Reader Event. I feel like this little job makes me feel a little more secure. (I'm doing something!) Any way to find calm.

2 more events that have alleviated stress-

1) My mother called. She'd read Turpentine. She cried and said the book was so good she had that blue feeling one gets on Christmas afternoon when you know it is all over and now you have to wait another year for it to come around again. Except that I, personally, have a GREAT feeling when Christmas is over (Won't have to do that for another year!) and recognizing that yes, this is my loving mother making the comment, I was buoyed.

2) I had a harmonica lesson! It was great, I liked my teacher, he didn't smite his brow even once during the lesson and he made some really, really cool sounds on the harmonica and assured me that I would (eventually) do the same.

(What not to do.) Don't get a haircut so soon before going. I went to a new salon, got a good haircut, but it's short! I should have got the cut earlier, but put it off...I did tell the salon owner I didn't want much change, but he was scandalized by what had happened on the back of my head due to years of self-hair cuts. It will be cool in the Rocky Mountain West, I'll have to get turtlenecks to keep my own turtle neck warm.