Tour Days 4 & 5: Home on the range, hometown, etc.
Yesterday was, to date, the craziest day so far on this tour. I was up at 4:30am in Denver to catch a flight to Houston. Upon landing, I went promptly to a Barnes & Noble signing in the Woodlands (I had the sense to flat iron before leaving the hotel this time). I'm told there were 220 people there, but I had no sense of that. I'm horrible at numbers. All I know is that we had very strict time limits on how long I could stay because we had to take off to Austin that same afternoon. I remember being told, "Richelle, you have ten minutes left," and when I looked up, I couldn't see the line's end. I still managed to sign all the books, talk (a little) with each person, and then scurry out of there only a bit late.
Here are some of the Houston highlights.
First up, yes, I'm starting to repeat dresses. I know some of you were hoping I had 25 different dresses for this tour, but I don't. I have about five. I also have laundry stops. This is my most comfortable dress, which is why it got chosen for a double-header day.
Like always, people astounded me with how far they traveled to get books signed. There were two different groups who'd driven up from New Orleans (about 6 hours away), and one even presented me with this patented New Orleans (LA) gift bag. Thanks, guys!
I have some young readers, but often my youngest visitors are those who have come with their parents and want to talk to me. This is one such young lady, who is destined to be a future VA reader. She had a fantastic fur handbag, which is on the shoulder closest to me.
The Houston staff and readers were fabulous, and I wish I could have stayed longer. But, it was on the road to Austin for me, where I was taken to Book People and greeted with this: my first marquee!
Book People is a fab indie store, and its patrons were fantastic too! They stayed in pretty good spirits while waiting in line.
They also have excellent taste in fashion.
This duo did both front and back artwork. In my egocentric nature, I assumed they'd made them for the signing. Turns out they wear them all the time.
I also got a visit from Jill, the Penguin Rep for the Texas area (and Denver). Everyone should love reps because they're the people who make sure my books and those of your favorite authors get to the stores.
It was a good, exhausting day, topped off when college pals Gina and Terence came by and had some food with me afterward at an outdoor bar with a gorgeous view of the capitol building. I got six hours of sleep last night, the most I've gotten in a while. Happily, I then got three more on the plane this morning when I flew to Detroit.
Detroit? Astute readers will notice I had no events in Detroit today. That's because I didn't stay there...I flew on to Kalamazoo! Yes, that's right. Today was my "day off," and I got to spend half the day with my family, some of whom I haven't seen in years. I'm not sure if they all want their pictures up here, so I'll go with some I'm sure won't mind. Like my uber-fun, restaurant-destroying cousins:
And my great-niece, who's too young to know she's on a blog. You read right, I'm a great-aunt (not just in the adjective sense). Here she is eating a pickle, but when questioned, she said she didn't like it.
Ah, good times. Tomorrow (Monday the 31st), I'll be heading out of the ol' hometown and flying back to Detroit bright and early to be on Live at 11, which is a TV show on Detroit's local Fox station (not sure of the number--2?). My interview will be somewhere in the middle to second half, I think. Later that evening, I'll be signing at the Borders in Birmingham at 7pm, which should be good time since half my high school and college friends live around there. I hope the rest of you who are out there in the Great Lakes State will come visit too!
Here are some of the Houston highlights.
First up, yes, I'm starting to repeat dresses. I know some of you were hoping I had 25 different dresses for this tour, but I don't. I have about five. I also have laundry stops. This is my most comfortable dress, which is why it got chosen for a double-header day.
Like always, people astounded me with how far they traveled to get books signed. There were two different groups who'd driven up from New Orleans (about 6 hours away), and one even presented me with this patented New Orleans (LA) gift bag. Thanks, guys!
I have some young readers, but often my youngest visitors are those who have come with their parents and want to talk to me. This is one such young lady, who is destined to be a future VA reader. She had a fantastic fur handbag, which is on the shoulder closest to me.
The Houston staff and readers were fabulous, and I wish I could have stayed longer. But, it was on the road to Austin for me, where I was taken to Book People and greeted with this: my first marquee!
Book People is a fab indie store, and its patrons were fantastic too! They stayed in pretty good spirits while waiting in line.
They also have excellent taste in fashion.
This duo did both front and back artwork. In my egocentric nature, I assumed they'd made them for the signing. Turns out they wear them all the time.
I also got a visit from Jill, the Penguin Rep for the Texas area (and Denver). Everyone should love reps because they're the people who make sure my books and those of your favorite authors get to the stores.
It was a good, exhausting day, topped off when college pals Gina and Terence came by and had some food with me afterward at an outdoor bar with a gorgeous view of the capitol building. I got six hours of sleep last night, the most I've gotten in a while. Happily, I then got three more on the plane this morning when I flew to Detroit.
Detroit? Astute readers will notice I had no events in Detroit today. That's because I didn't stay there...I flew on to Kalamazoo! Yes, that's right. Today was my "day off," and I got to spend half the day with my family, some of whom I haven't seen in years. I'm not sure if they all want their pictures up here, so I'll go with some I'm sure won't mind. Like my uber-fun, restaurant-destroying cousins:
And my great-niece, who's too young to know she's on a blog. You read right, I'm a great-aunt (not just in the adjective sense). Here she is eating a pickle, but when questioned, she said she didn't like it.
Ah, good times. Tomorrow (Monday the 31st), I'll be heading out of the ol' hometown and flying back to Detroit bright and early to be on Live at 11, which is a TV show on Detroit's local Fox station (not sure of the number--2?). My interview will be somewhere in the middle to second half, I think. Later that evening, I'll be signing at the Borders in Birmingham at 7pm, which should be good time since half my high school and college friends live around there. I hope the rest of you who are out there in the Great Lakes State will come visit too!