Rhys celebrates pub day of FOUR FUNERALS AND MAYBE A WEDDING.

RHYS BOWEN: When you read this I'll be in the air. Not levitating with excitement because my new book has been published, but because I'll be flying between Phoenix and Boston on a leg of my book tour. I'm really looking forward to this part of the tour because it has become a Jungle Red Event.

I'll be meeting up with Hank, Hallie and Roberta (who also has a new book out this week) at the Brookline Booksmith bookstore where we'll have a fun and funny discussion. Then tomorrow on to Madison CT and the RJ Julia bookstore where Hallie, Roberta and I will have more witty and wonderful things to say (we hope! It might depend how much alcohol was imbibed the night before).

I'm so delighted to be sharing part of my booktour with friends because usually they are lonely travels, sometimes quite stressful. I remember all the times I sat at an airport staring at the board announcing the flight had been delayed, knowing that I was due in a city several hours away to give a talk at 7 p.m.  Or I ran into traffic and sat in the taxi, knowing I was going to be late. There was the time I was due to be picked up by a car in San Diego and taken to Orange County, at noon.  At 12:15 I called them. "That car was cancelled," they said and couldn't tell me by whom.
I'm standing outside the hotel and need to get to Orange County, I shouted into the phone. You have to get here right away.
They tell me they don't have another car for half an hour. It arrives and then we are stuck in traffic. My 2 p.m. event ends up with a 4 p.m. arrival, and, miraculously many of the people have stayed, bless their hearts.

Bumpy monsoon skies ahead!

Before I was sent on tour I always pictured them as glamorous events. One flew into a city, a big black limo whisked one away to a luxury hotel where one ordered room service, went to speak, came back to dine. Yes, all of those things are true, but often there is just enough time to change before an event, and one returns at 9:30 feeling too tired to eat anything. Many meals are skipped. Those lovely rooms with antiques in them are only used for a few hours before a 5:am car shows up the next morning.

A couple of hotel memories: the first time I stayed at the Hotel ZaZa in Houston. It's very boutiquey and artsy. I was welcomed by a young man who personally escorted me to the Splendida Suite. He opened double doors and there was a full size glass dining table with chandelier over it, then a giant curved sofa in front of a TV. Asian antiques everywhere.

 Then through a bathroom to a bedroom.
This hotel specializes in art photographs. I went to take a shower and there, in the bathroom, was a giant photo of an Afghan tribesman--staring at me.  Do I wear a burka in the shower I wonder?

And this was the photograph in the loo!

Another time I flew into Denver with snow piled six feet high around me. I was driven to sign at various stores, then dropped at a hotel at 2:30 with the promise my escort would pick me up again at 5. I hadn't eaten since six that morning. "Where's the coffee shop?" I ask at the desk. "It closed at 2," I am told. And no room service. I stare out at a vast expanse of snow. Any restaurants within walking distance? I ask. She shakes her head. Not really. Then you need to call me a cab. I need something to eat.  Finally she takes pity. We have a bus, she says. And she is the driver.
So we set out, in this 20 seater bus, cruising through the snow drifts until I spot GOLDEN ARCHES.
And we drive through the drive-through in a 20 seater bus.

This is the glamorous life of the book tour!
And this week I look forward to seeing friends in Boston, Madison CT, Ann Arbor, Houston, and various stores around Northern California. The whole tour is on my website www.rhysbowen.com

FOUR FUNERALS AND MAYBE A WEDDING is the 12th in the Royal Spyness series. And if you're wondering if Lady Georgie finally gets married.... well, you'll just have to read the book!
But I will give a signed copy to one of today's commenters.