It is late Thursday afternoon—very late for me to be blogging.  I usually do that on Wednesday mornings, but being on tour is playing havoc with my usual schedule and also my usual steps.

There were two events yesterday and two events today all of which have involved driving up and down I-5 in and around Seattle.  I have it on good authority that the Washington Department of Transportation has declared that there are NO traffic problems in Seattle.  I beg to differ.  I can’t imagine how people who have to commute through those tie-up messes on a daily basis can keep from losing their minds.

We’ve gotten everywhere we needed to be on time, but it’s been challenging, and sometimes our arrivals have been way closer to the event start times than they should have been.  

While we’ve been parked in traffic, I’ve been in the passenger seat with the computer open on my lap, working on the corrections for Downfall—the Joanna Brady due out in September.  I doubt I’ll finish the last of the corrections today, but I’m very close.  If I can have the manuscript in New York by Monday morning we’ll ALL be happy campers.

Followers of this blog, know that I do two book tours a year—spring and late summer—and people often wonder what I get out of it.  Having the opportunity to interact with my readers is a big draw for me.  I like making people laugh, and it’s rewarding to have members of the audience come up to me after a program and say, “I had no idea you’d be so funny.”   I have my parents to thank for my “funny bone.”  There was always joking and laughter in our family growing up, and I’ve carried that laughter with me all my life.

But there are also moments on the road that simply take my breath away.  Today included one of those moments.

This afternoon, in Lacey, Washington, a man about my age stepped up to the table.  He had no book in hand to be signed when he stopped in front of me, but this is what he said, “I came here to thank you for writing Second Watch. You got it right.  I cried all the way through it.”  Then, after giving me a military salute, he shook my hand and walked away.

I can tell you that he left my mascara in a complete mess, but you know what?  It just doesn’t get any better than that.