Today is, I am reliably informed by various pieces of electronic equipment in my hotel room that must surely know better than I do, Tuesday. I am, therefore, in Seattle, and later today will be flying to Birmingham, Alabama.

Today is also the first time in eight days that I will not stand up in front of a crowd of strangers and talk about my book. It will be nice to have a day off. I’ve started to feel a little bit like Charlie Brown when he goes to school – all he ever hears when the teacher speaks is a low, tedious drone, devoid of actual words. The only difference is that in this instance, I’m also the one doing the talking.

Anyway, time to catch up.

My event with Rainy Day Books last Thursday night was great fun – a super, engaged crowd and of course the lovely Vivien Jennings asked excellent questions, not just about SETTING FREE THE KITES, but also about A GOOD AMERICAN and The Unbound Book Festival. Vivien and Roger have always been wonderful supporters of my work and it’s always a pleasure to see them.

Vivien Jennings and Roger Doeren of Rainy Day Books

The next day I flew to San Fransisco, and had three events over the next three days at three fantastic book stores: Rakestraw Books, Book Passage, and a Great Good Place for Books. What a joy to discover such places! It gives me so much hope to know that there are super smart, dedicated people still devoted to selling books the old-fashioned way. Rakestraw and GGP in particular are beautiful by virtue of their size – small but perfectly formed (or at least perfectly curated.)

Many excerpts. Many stickies.

With Garrett, my host at Book Passage

Alex and I spent a lovely day on Sunday exploring the city on foot, which involved climbing up and down many hills. The weather was glorious (after several weeks of unprecedented rainfall) and we enjoyed the sunshine. That night was the Oscars, but that didn’t stop people coming out to Oakland to a Great Good Place for Books. I was especially happy to meet Paula, a reader who had reached out to me over social media and whom I’ve been speaking to for some time. It’s always such a joy to meet these wonderful people IRL (as the kids say.)

With Paula at a Great Good Place for Books in Oakland. Hallelujah, Facebook!

Signing.

Kathleen, the owner of a Great Good Place for Books, was quite wonderful and told me that if she doesn’t literally bash customers over the head with books she really likes, she comes awfully close. My kind of bookseller!