This is my new outdoor office. When I need to think about what I’m writing, or what I want to write, I climb up the hill in the pasture, and I sit down and the donkeys come over and bump into me and nose my pockets for treats and nudge me, and then it quiets down and I can sit and look over the Black Creek Valley and think – no e-mail, cell or Facebook. Good for the soul. The donkeys support good writing.
October 5, 2010 – Watching Maria and the donkeys warms the heart and lifts the spirits. Every time. It suggests the promise of the world, and calls to the better parts of us.It makes me smile and shake my head. It whispers that love is good, and brightens the darkest corners of the world.
I had a great first book tour day. Rushing around with Rose and Maria, selling and signing a ton of books, talking to readers who are interested in my work. I have a grueling month ahead – driving, talks, interviews, and it is pretty relentless. I am going to fight for this book, which is special to me. And I have a very good feeling about the book. Tomorrow, I have different intentions. I want to pause and take some beautiful photos. Perhaps of Fall, perhaps of the dogs, perhaps of donkeys or old barns. Don’t know yet, until I see where the sun and light is tomorrow. Life is full of love and promise, if you let both in. I’m going to take a copy of the novel to Ed Rouse and his family. Haven’t seen them for a few days, and I miss them and their beautiful farm, and the kitchen were coffee is always on. And thick slices of pies.
Rose got a big ovation among the volunteers raising money for Northeast Public Radio – WAMC – in Albany. Listeners bit more than $3,000 for 30 copies of “Rose In A Storm” donated by Random House, and packs of my family farm notecards sold for $100 each. Yeah. They will be cheaper on the book tour, $16. Rose was completely out of her element all day, and you never saw a dog so happy to get home. But she did well, and I am very glad to have kicked off the “Rose” tour in her company. We are on a roll.
Rose arriving at the bookstore
October 5, 2010- I very much wanted Rose to have her own reading in connection with “Rose In A Storm.” She doesn’t like crowds or bookstores, but she always figures things out and so I put up a message on FB last week saying I would be at Barnes & Noble in Saratoga when my book came out and repeated it yesterday and today. It is Rose’s only appearance regarding the novel she inspired. We had a great crowd, more than 30 people for an event that wasn’t publicized, official, or even really announced. The bookstore staff – this is a store whose workers know what a bookstore is about – had a table ready, and some coffee, and we sold more than 30 books. In fact, the store sold out of the novel today.
I talked about Rose, the novel, and the wonder of the mind of a dog, which I tried to capture in this book. It is hot, I sense. I don’t really know, but I can sort of feel it. Rose was amazing, as she always is. Uncomfortable indoors and with crowds, she sat by my side, rushing over to Maria every few minutes, and then lay down and watched the crowd, curious about what she was supposed to do. It was a warm, wonderful debut to a book tour. It is also part of my guerrilla marketing campaign. On this book tour I am willing to appear spontaneously at libraries, bookstores, even private homes along the tour – in Dayton, Cincinnati, (no time in Lexington) and other stops along the tour. Facebook is a powerful communications tool, and so is this blog. My Ipad had troubles, so I couldn’t upload the photos from the stores. Before going to Barnes & Noble, we went to WAMC in Albany, Northeast Public Radio and the 30 books Random House donated were gone in a flash for $100 each. My notecards sold also – three packs for $100 each. They will be cheaper on the book tour ($16). But we raised more than $3,000 for the radio station.
I loved reading from Rose, and talking about the book, and there was great warmth and encouragement in the room. Great questions too. Thanks much to the great staff of Barnes & Noble for understanding what I was trying to do, and for helping me do it. Rose was a trooper, as always. She would rather have been anywhere else, but did her job. A great opener to a book tour.
October 5, 2010 – The “Rolling Rose” tour kicked off this morning when Izzy and I went to the Battenkill Bookstore to sign books in Cambridge, N.Y. This afternoon, Rose and I are going to be on WAMC, N ortheast Public Radio, to give away some books for their fund drive. Then at 5 p.m. Rose and I and Maria will be at the Barnes and Noble in Saratoga Springs for an unofficial signing. Sunday at 2 p.m. we will be at the Borders in Saratoga at 2 p.m.
At 7 p.m. Friday, we will be at the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vt. Interviews and stuff in between.
Above Izzy says hello to Connie Brooks at the beautiful Battenkill Bookstore in Cambridge. Connie and I have the same views about publishing.Books and reading are alive and well and prospering.
