Book Tour Update January 2011

I've been going non-stop these last couple of weeks. Let's see after my Book Passage reading I headed back to LA for an appearance at Diesel Books. And what a night that was. The awesome folks at Algonquin sent champagne to celebrate hitting the NYT Bestseller List and my dear friends came out to help toast the day. From there, I flew to Minneapolis and enjoyed a wonderful 1 degree Fahrenheit day (inside) and did a reading at Magers & Quinn. One of my favorite poets (and people), Kristin Naca, cheered me on--thanks man! So great to catch up with her again. And then it was off to Chicago where I read at Women & Children First during THE GAME, but was so happy that the Strater cousins came out in force--they had driven from 3-hours away for my reading. I am pleased to say I was named an honorary Strater cousin--Love you cousins! Next stop was Anderson's where the amazing Becky Anderson interviewed me for her TV show, and then a reading. Thank you Gil, Ilene, Anni, BooksOnTheTrain, and especially the Cress Creek Book Club for coming out. What a wonderful night! Are you tired yet from the whirlwind tour? Still a couple more to tell you about on this stretch: The next stop was the Bay Area for a Stanford University benefit--the Stanford Women's Club raises money for female undergrads with this wonderful event each year. I felt so honored to be part of a wonderful bill of writers: Kellie Corrigan, Steve Winn, and Tobias Wolff. Then it was off to Denver for the annual Writers Respond to Readers event at Tattered Cover. There were some 150+ audience members who had paid to hear 4 writers including me, and powerhouses Jennifer Egan, Julie Orringer, and Jess Walter. It was a crazy good show. I was taking notes as the other writers spoke! A storm started brewing and unfortunately I had to cancel my appearance at the Boulder Bookstore (I hope to reschedule for March--stay tuned). Now I'm at AWP where I did a panel, but not reading. Whew! So that's what's been going on --next stop is home for a couple of days and then on the road again! Hope to see you there!