Jenny Milchman, whose newest book is Ruin Falls (Ballantine), embarked recently on a cross-country author tour. This is the second installment of notes from her trip:
There are curve balls in baseball, and on book tours, too. A big one came for Carla Buckley as she and I headed south on the next leg of our shared tour. Instead of being together for six more events, Carla and I got to share only two, but we made them count.
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Two road warriors just before parting: Buckley (l.) and Milchman. |
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In Arlington, Va., we visited One More Page, a bookstore that knows how to get people talking... sometimes over wine. One of the topics that came up is the work/life balance an author achieves, or doesn't. Carla and I spoke about the balancing act she faced--leaving life behind to come on the road--and how I evaded that tightrope by packing my whole family into the car.
Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Va., is beautiful itself, but owner Kelly Justice also knows how to host an off-site event. The Woman's Center of Richmond was where Carla and I were brought on the morning of our appearance, before being whisked into the historic building's green room to await our talk. It's also the place where that curve ball came at us. Carla received word about a family medical emergency. Though everything would resolve successfully, Carla had to leave the world's longest book tour.
We get book recommendations in many ways these days. Word-of-mouth will always be king, I suspect. There's the algorithmic intelligence of "you may also like." But the intimate knowledge that a bookseller develops from receiving thousands of advance reader copies and placing a some of them on shelves is unparalleled. One bookseller skilled at this is Jill Folden, who works at the Easton Town Center Barnes & Noble in Columbus, Ohio. Jill read my debut novel, invited me to the bookstore with my second, and was as much a part of the ardent discussion as the audience.
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Lake Forest Bookstore's literary night out. |
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I wasn't sure what to expect from the Ladies Night Out set up by Lake Forest Bookstore in Lake Forest, Ill. Held off-site, the event placed me in a rococo wine parlor whose rear room was dressed in tapestries. Every one of the plush chairs was taken, and the air was full of the aroma of canapés. This was a blend of cocktail party, Parisian literary salon and book club. The room and conversation buzzed. Held regularly, these events always fill with a mix of devotees and newcomers.
Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, Ill., is one of those bookstores of which an author dreams, not least because I was offered my pick of any book on the endless shelves as a treat for coming. One of the guests in attendance had been assigned by her creative writing professor to attend a book event, and this would happen more than once in the Windy City.
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| Anderson's gets the word out. | |
The Book Cellar in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago became the site of an impromptu reunion, as two authors I knew from International Thriller Writers appeared at the start of the evening. Again, a writing student came in, blink-eyed and unsure what to expect. I'm pretty sure we all entertained him with tales of what it's Really Like to be a Writer. The special joy of the evening was Susan Takacs, a bookseller as interested in the writing life as she is in books.
I've been doing book events with authors besides Carla--M.J. Rose (The Collector of Dying Breaths) shared her latest launch with me back at the Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. Getting published, not to mention staying published, is hard, and joining up for events can bring in a larger crowd to a bookstore. My greeting in the heartland was a variation on the shared event. Beaverdale Books in Des Moines, Iowa, welcomed me and a not-yet-published writer named Karolyn Graham. Karolyn and I contrasted our writing roads, and I offered tips I've picked up about how to get from there to here.
Tornadoes chased us across Nebraska, but we had a destination worth braving a trip to Oz. Authors come from all over to visit the Tattered Cover in Denver, Colo., and readers do, too. It's a bookstore that has become a land unto itself. My event was at the Highlands Ranch location, a huge, sunny, wood-framed space. I paired with local author Peg Brantley who is walking yet another publishing path. Peg began her own micro press to release her novels, and the two of us talked to an engaged group about the differences between being published by a major house and self-publishing.
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Talking books at Beaverdale Books. |
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Steamboat Springs, Colo., is a getaway town boasting winter and summer sport, and I arrived in the lull between seasons. No matter. A theme to this set of events became apparent as we steamed west across the country, and it has to do with the booksellers who give each store a character as distinct as that in any novel. At Off the Beaten Path Bookstore, I sat around with a group of booksellers and chatted the evening away.
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The power of books at the King's English. |
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The King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a bookstore I visited during the longing days I spent as an unpublished writer, then as a debut author, and now with a second novel out. On each visit, the booksellers were avid and engaged people who have become real friends. But this time, the patio under its bower of sun and branches was filled with customers. There was an energy to the evening that is already beckoning me back.
In Boise, Idaho, I got to meet a longtime virtual friend, mystery author Donna Crow, who is a friend of Rediscovered Books. Donna and I delved into a question that consumes me: What is the definition of a genre book, and does it hold any meaning when it comes to reading? What about bookselling? These are the kind of conversations we can have out here on the road... and in the hushed and near-reverent space of a bookstore.
Please join me next time as the conversation reaches the left coast, home to enough bookstores to comprise a tour in of itself.