This is Wednesday. \u00a0I usually write the blog entries on Thursday. \u00a0That’s not going to happen this week. \u00a0Tomorrow I have a morning signing at Green Valley outside of Tucson. \u00a0Then we have to drive to Phoenix–200 miles in all with the back and forth to Green Valley. \u00a0During the drive, with Bill at the wheel, I have two interviews schedule. \u00a0Then an evening event in Scottsdale. \u00a0Do you see a time to sit down and blog in all that? \u00a0Some of you are probably getting tired just reading about it.<\/p>\n
Right this moment, I should be on my way to a Costco signing here in Tucson. \u00a0That was canceled earlier today because the store failed to get the books delivered on time. \u00a0I would like to think that the company will take responsibility for not having the books there rather than claiming it was some kind of temperamental diva turn on my part. \u00a0But we’ll see. \u00a0If they blame it on me, I’m sure one of my disappointed fans will be sure to let me know.<\/p>\n
By the way, I’ve already heard from someone today who tried to get into yesterday’s event but arrived a few minutes late. \u00a0She wrote to me complaining that I should let people know if I have a “drop dead time limit” for entry into events. \u00a0The truth is, I don’t. \u00a0When I realized the volunteers had closed the doors and were sending people away, I had them reopen them, but by then the woman in question had already left. \u00a0Once I noticed the problem, I immediately corrected it, but when you’re the person on stage and speaking to 200 plus people, it’s not always possible to keep an eye on EVERY DETAIL!! \u00a0I do my best.<\/p>\n
Twice today I’ve been asked how I do what I do. \u00a0The people asking the questing wisely refrained from adding the words “at your age” at the end of that question. And the answer is, I’m not entirely sure.<\/p>\n
For one thing, I take my vitamins. \u00a0That reminds me, those have to be sorted before I head out of town tomorrow morning because I take MY vitamins and I also make sure Bill takes HIS!<\/p>\n
Bella is staying home this tour. \u00a0She is not happy about it, but the pace makes it impossible to be dog-friendly. \u00a0(I’m sure the folks at the Ritz in Phoenix will miss her when we show up sans puppy.) \u00a0The people on the tour will miss her, too. \u00a0I have a feeling she’ll sulk for a day or two, but eventually she’ll get over it and her miniature dachshund hunger strike will end. \u00a0The truth is, at the end of a long, multi-event travel day, I need to have some time to rest rather than heading out to walk the doggie. \u00a0(By the way, on our Bella travels, Bill is the Executive Dog Walker. \u00a0That means he holds my purse, and I hold everything else.)<\/p>\n
But part of the secret of surviving the killer pace of a book tour is to live in the present. \u00a0It’s one of the things I learned from Al-Anon. \u00a0You do the tour one day at a time. \u00a0You make the signing you are doing right then the most important event without thinking of the next one or the one after that. \u00a0Live in the now. \u00a0Be in the now.<\/p>\n
Once, years ago, when I was a fledgling author, I had the great good fortune of going to a group-grope signing–that’s what we call a multi author signing event in the trade. \u00a0At this one, I happened to be seated at a table next to Ann Rule. \u00a0There were loads of people in her line and very few in mine, so I had a chance to watch her and see a pro at work. \u00a0The person standing in front of her, waiting for his or her book to be signed, seemed to be the only person in Ann Rule’s universe at that moment. \u00a0She gave him or her the gift of her complete attention. \u00a0It was a lesson I took to heart. \u00a0Every person at a signing is important, and so is every signing. \u00a0You never know which person in a particular group, large or small, is the one person you were destined to meet in that time and place.<\/p>\n
So yes, I’m on tour, but along with the clothes I pack in my roll-aboard, I carry along another essential–the kind words and good wishes of my readers and fans. \u00a0Their smiles and stories and comments gladden my heart and sustain me in my travels.<\/p>\n
Oh, did I mention this? \u00a0If not, it’s worth repeating.<\/p>\n
I have the best job in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is Wednesday. \u00a0I usually write the blog entries on Thursday. \u00a0That’s not going to happen this week. \u00a0Tomorrow I have a morning signing at Green Valley outside of Tucson. \u00a0Then we have to drive to Phoenix–200 miles in all with the back and forth to Green Valley. \u00a0During the drive, with Bill at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[145,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-moving-target","category-tour-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3nsBA-88","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":505,"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504\/revisions\/505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jajance.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}