On the Road Again

RHYS BOWEN:
I hope you've enjoyed our travel week here at Jungle Reds. I'm sure the travel gene is connected to the writing gene--we love to take ourselves to other places and times in our imagination when we are not actually traveling.

My next travel jaunt is coming up in March and it's not to far away places, but a short book tour with Cara Black. Cara and I have done many events together and I always enjoy her company. In fact I really like doing a book tour with another writer or two. It's more cheerful than the solo tour when you come back late at night to a lonely hotel room, order room service then head for the next city. With a companion the journeys are more pleasant, you have someone to celebrate with when the event goes well, someone to drown sorrows with when they are poorly attended. And above all, someone to laugh with.

I've done some strange events in my writing life and probably one of the strangest was with Cara and David Corbett when we were invited to speak at a nudist colony. David was the one who was freaking out most on the way there! He swore he was going to hold his book up in front of his face and not take his eyes off the page once. Actually it was a cold night and most people were clothed--except for one man who wore nothing but... a beard. He carried a tiny backpack on his back and insisted on walking up and down in front of us. Rather disturbing when I was trying to speak coherently.

I also remember speaking to an audience resembling the cast of Deliverance in North Carolina, including one girl who was crying hysterically. Nobody paid any attention to her. Oh, and there was the time we had to meet the store pet, and it was a pig. And the store that hosted a tea party and two old women didn't seem to understand that I was giving a speech. They wolfed down cakes while chatting in loud voices. "So, have you seen Sarah, lately?"

So you see, you never know what you are going to get. That's part of the fun. I'll keep you posted on how Cara and I fare this time. And if you're in Arizona, Southern Cal or the Bay Area, please check out our schedule and come to see us. Our schedules are on our websites.