5/25/2004
You lie awake at 3 a.m. and listen to immense storms roll across the Midwest.
Yesterday, the Siberian Husky next door got my daughter through the fence. I heard her screaming and ran out to find him yanking and shaking her left hand. I got him off her and Cindy and I rushed her to the hospital. Stitches and sorrow. But, it puts all the book tour foolishness in perspective ...
This week I was back at NPR recording some stuff for All Things Considered. That show will air June 14. I also got the great news that The Devil's Highway is on the Denver best-seller lists. Somehow the book keeps on rolling. If you're in the Chicago area June 5 for Printer's Row Book Fair, I'll be doing a solo reading at 3 p.m. Come and say hello.
I have a newspaper interview on Friday and a possible trip to DC soon. Keep your eye on the schedule -- just like the Monkees, you never know where I'll be found, I might come to your town.
On every tour, there is one person that so baffles you that you think of them as asshole-of-the-month. I have to tell you this fellow in Denver definitely befuddled me. After my patented horrible death in the desert reading, I had a signing line of about 50 people. He was near the end and asked me to sign his book. Then he told me it was too bad I had wasted the opportunity to write a serious book. I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "Y'know, a serious book. You could have written a book with ideas in it." I just stared at him and finally said, "Ideas? What kind of ideas?" He said, "I don't know. I just think you could have written something serious." It was like a scene out of a David Lynch movie for me. As if we were talking about two completely different books. I finally said, "Do you want a policy book? I don't understand." And he said, "I don't know what I want. I just wish it had some ideas in it." This absurd dialogue ended with me saying to him, "This book has ideas in it." Who's on first?
So Chayo is mending with stitches in her hand. The rivers in Illinois are flooding. The tornado sirens go off. Another storm is rolling in right now. I am busy trying to battle with the last section of The Hummingbird's Daughter. And we are all gearing up for our yearly exodus across the U.S., this time we are thrilled to be going back to Fishtrap in Oregon and then down to Southern California for more promo and hype.
Thank you for buying the books and making it all possible.
Luis
Yesterday, the Siberian Husky next door got my daughter through the fence. I heard her screaming and ran out to find him yanking and shaking her left hand. I got him off her and Cindy and I rushed her to the hospital. Stitches and sorrow. But, it puts all the book tour foolishness in perspective ...
This week I was back at NPR recording some stuff for All Things Considered. That show will air June 14. I also got the great news that The Devil's Highway is on the Denver best-seller lists. Somehow the book keeps on rolling. If you're in the Chicago area June 5 for Printer's Row Book Fair, I'll be doing a solo reading at 3 p.m. Come and say hello.
I have a newspaper interview on Friday and a possible trip to DC soon. Keep your eye on the schedule -- just like the Monkees, you never know where I'll be found, I might come to your town.
On every tour, there is one person that so baffles you that you think of them as asshole-of-the-month. I have to tell you this fellow in Denver definitely befuddled me. After my patented horrible death in the desert reading, I had a signing line of about 50 people. He was near the end and asked me to sign his book. Then he told me it was too bad I had wasted the opportunity to write a serious book. I said, "What do you mean?" He said, "Y'know, a serious book. You could have written a book with ideas in it." I just stared at him and finally said, "Ideas? What kind of ideas?" He said, "I don't know. I just think you could have written something serious." It was like a scene out of a David Lynch movie for me. As if we were talking about two completely different books. I finally said, "Do you want a policy book? I don't understand." And he said, "I don't know what I want. I just wish it had some ideas in it." This absurd dialogue ended with me saying to him, "This book has ideas in it." Who's on first?
So Chayo is mending with stitches in her hand. The rivers in Illinois are flooding. The tornado sirens go off. Another storm is rolling in right now. I am busy trying to battle with the last section of The Hummingbird's Daughter. And we are all gearing up for our yearly exodus across the U.S., this time we are thrilled to be going back to Fishtrap in Oregon and then down to Southern California for more promo and hype.
Thank you for buying the books and making it all possible.
Luis
5/10/2004
Home again, home again, jiggity-jig
I flew "home" to Chicago to turn in grades at UIC. Leaving tomorrow for Denver.
I just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know that The Devil's Highway has gotten on TWO best-seller lists! It's at No.12 on the LATimes list and No.10 on the San Francisco Chronicle list. I have never managed to crack a best-seller list before ... I like it!
I flew "home" to Chicago to turn in grades at UIC. Leaving tomorrow for Denver.
I just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know that The Devil's Highway has gotten on TWO best-seller lists! It's at No.12 on the LATimes list and No.10 on the San Francisco Chronicle list. I have never managed to crack a best-seller list before ... I like it!
5/05/2004
Back in Seattle!
It's morning in Nancy Johnson's house, near UW. Our only companion this morning is her giant dog, Truman. I don't even know what has happened since the last blog. We flew to San Francisco and all I remember is dashing-dashing-dashing. We did end up after all the readings and signings and interviews at Kathy Kamen-Goldmark's house watching The Sopranos with her and Sam Barry (Dave Barry's handsomer brother). People at every stop were amazingly kind and enthusiastic. A definite high point of the tour was going on the West Coast Live radio show. I won't mention any names but let's just say it was much, much better hanging out with the musicians than with the other "famous writer." Speaking of fame, the deskman at our hotel recognized me from the newspaper. That was wierd and wonderful in its own right.
We jetted up to Portland and had another great reading at Powell's. A big group of people had gone to the other Powell's store where someone else was reading and when they announced that I was at the other store, they all got up and left his reading and came to mine. I guess if we were playing football, I would have scored the extra points on that one ... Whomever he is, I feel like sending him an apology for stealing his audience. Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the tour: Ursula LeGuin ended up at the wrong store.
We jumped in the rental car, well, we're actually not doing too much jumping at this point out of sheer exhaustion. So I'll say we crawled into the rental car and drove from Portland to Seattle. Got here at 1 a.m., Nancy and Truman waiting on the porch with the light on to tuck us in. Receptions, handshakes, radio interviews, it's the usual blur. My old pal, Sherman Alexie, handled the introductions at the University of Washington last night. Sherman was in rare form ... he's got to be one of the funniest people in America. I can't even explain to you why at this point, but he ended my introduction by telling the audience whenever he is in the bathtub naked and eating chocolate cake, he thinks of me!
Have to go and do a radio show in LA via telephone. After that, a newspaper interview and after that a reception. Then we can go get Chayo, our little one, from Aunt Sue. I haven't seen my kids or my cat in what seems like months. One more Seattle reading at Elliott Bay Thursday night and then, gasp, a 6:45 a.m. flight back to Chicago. After that, one last stop on the tour: Denver May 11. See you there!
Luis
It's morning in Nancy Johnson's house, near UW. Our only companion this morning is her giant dog, Truman. I don't even know what has happened since the last blog. We flew to San Francisco and all I remember is dashing-dashing-dashing. We did end up after all the readings and signings and interviews at Kathy Kamen-Goldmark's house watching The Sopranos with her and Sam Barry (Dave Barry's handsomer brother). People at every stop were amazingly kind and enthusiastic. A definite high point of the tour was going on the West Coast Live radio show. I won't mention any names but let's just say it was much, much better hanging out with the musicians than with the other "famous writer." Speaking of fame, the deskman at our hotel recognized me from the newspaper. That was wierd and wonderful in its own right.
We jetted up to Portland and had another great reading at Powell's. A big group of people had gone to the other Powell's store where someone else was reading and when they announced that I was at the other store, they all got up and left his reading and came to mine. I guess if we were playing football, I would have scored the extra points on that one ... Whomever he is, I feel like sending him an apology for stealing his audience. Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the tour: Ursula LeGuin ended up at the wrong store.
We jumped in the rental car, well, we're actually not doing too much jumping at this point out of sheer exhaustion. So I'll say we crawled into the rental car and drove from Portland to Seattle. Got here at 1 a.m., Nancy and Truman waiting on the porch with the light on to tuck us in. Receptions, handshakes, radio interviews, it's the usual blur. My old pal, Sherman Alexie, handled the introductions at the University of Washington last night. Sherman was in rare form ... he's got to be one of the funniest people in America. I can't even explain to you why at this point, but he ended my introduction by telling the audience whenever he is in the bathtub naked and eating chocolate cake, he thinks of me!
Have to go and do a radio show in LA via telephone. After that, a newspaper interview and after that a reception. Then we can go get Chayo, our little one, from Aunt Sue. I haven't seen my kids or my cat in what seems like months. One more Seattle reading at Elliott Bay Thursday night and then, gasp, a 6:45 a.m. flight back to Chicago. After that, one last stop on the tour: Denver May 11. See you there!
Luis
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