Tour Day 5, 6, and 7

Day 5

Miles driven today: 395
Bookstores visited: 19
Books signed: 95
Books hand sold: 2
Bookstores remaining: 439

I'm tired, but happy with the way things are going.

With the help of the talented James R. Winter, who carted me around Cincinnati all day, we managed to sign at 18 bookstores, which is really impressive considering how far apart some of them are. Jim's a great guy and a great writer---visit him on his blog and get your hands on a copy of his mystery novel Northcoast Shakedown.

It took a solid 11 hours to finish up in Ohio, and then I managed to make it to Lexington, KY to sign at one final bookstore (Joseph Beth) and hang out with the editor of the best science fiction magazine being currently published, Apex. Jason kindly invited me to stay in his lovely home for the night, and I ate all of his food and made a really sweet fort out of sofa cushions which I hope he'll leave standing after I move on.

I'm not an idiot (I'm also not an actor, but I play one on TV) and it's obvious that so far on this tour that a lot of people are chipping in to help me out. Three nights on the road, and I've already had three free meals, two places to crash for free, and two author escorts who drove me around their towns. I'm both humbled and blown away by all of this generosity. In Carmel, a fan who heard about my tour even gave me a $25 gas card. Are people awesome, or what?

Not everything is gooing 100% smooth, however. The chain of B. Dalton (which is the smaller, mall friendly version on Barnes and Noble) doesn't seem to carry my books. I've visited three so far, and struck out each time. Of course, the main reason I'm going to these bookstores is to meet the booksellers, and hopefully they will carry my books after meeting me, so progress is being made.

Also, the wonderful Waldenbooks chain has a computer problem where my newest novel is listed in their system as a paperback for release in 2007. Since the hardcover is available right now, this makes ordering my latest impossible at these stores, which can't be helping my sales. I've spoken to several higher ups, and hopefully this will get resolved. If you want to buy my book through Walden, suggest they shortlist it or special order it through a distributor (Ingram, Partners, etc).

If you're looking for signed books in the area, here are the stores I visited:

Waldenbooks 7875 Montgomery, Cincinnati

Brentanos 28 West Fourth St. Cincinnati

Waldenbooks 6139 Glenway Ave. Cincinatti

Waldenbooks 4601-672 Eastgate Blvd. Cincinnati

Joseph Beth 2692 Madison Road Cincinnati

BN 7800 Montgomery Cincinatti

Borders 11711 Princeton Pike Cincinnati

Borders 4530 Eastgate Cincinnati

Borders 9459 Colerain Cincinnati

Borders 2785 Dixie Hgwy Crestview Hills KY

Borders 5105 Deerfield Blvd Mason OH

BN 1 Levee Way Newport KY

BN 7663 Mall Road Florence KY

BN 9455 Civic Center Blvd West Chest OH

BN 9891 Waterstone blvd Cincinnati

Waldenbooks Florence KY

Joseph Beth Lexington KY

I also visited B. Dalton at the Cincinnati Northgate mall and the Tri County Mall, and they promised to order some copies.


Day 6

Miles driven today: 285
Bookstores visited: 3
Books hand sold: 2
Bookstores remaining: 436

My friend, thriller author Robert W. Walker, is getting married, and he asked me to be his best man. Rob lives in Charleston, West Virginia. I love Charleston, but it doesn't have many bookstores. In between the wedding rehearsal and the long travel times, I managed to squeeze in four bookstore visits.

Taylor Books226 Capitol St Charleston

Waldenbooks 2107 Charleston Town Center

Waldenbooks 175 Kanawha Mall

Waldenbooks 500 Winchester Ave Ashland KY

While the momentum I've been building up on this tour has come to a screeching halt, it's great to be here for Rob.

Day 7

Today is Rob's wedding, and I'll be doing best man duties. I had a solid eight hours of sleep for the first time in about ten days, which felt great.

I have two free hours this morning, so I hit a nearby Kinko's to catch up on my email and blog, and to finish the line edit of DIRTY MARTINI, which is due in a few days.

After the reception tonight, I'm, heading for Knoxville TN. I'll be signing at Knoxville stores tomorrow, and then on to Atlanta.

On Monday, July 10, some friends are throwing a booklaunch party for me in Atlanta. If you'd like to attend, RSVP Linda Darter at ldarter@csfmail.org. It's on Pelham Road, being held between 6pm and 8pm. Hope to see some of you there!