On book tour time

Everything on the book tour has very short margins. The driver taking you places in traffic-laden cities has to calculate the odds of getting you to your next gig on time and allow for potential disasters so you often arrive with tonnes of dead time or with barely seconds to get up and start charming.

You have a one-day turn around on getting your clothes laundered. If you drop it off in the morning it has to be ready in the evening or you’re wearing dirties to a gig. One hotel forgot to return the dry cleaning. And we stupidly didn’t check till it was too late leaving Scott struggling to put a clean ensemble together. Aaargh!! (Fortunately the dry cleaning was returned before we left that hotel.)

There’s such a narrow margin of error for clothes because we’re travelling with only carry-ons to eliminate the risk of checked luggage going missing. (It’s happened to us three times in the last two years.) Two carry-on bags and two computer bags cannot fit all the clothes you need for three weeks.

Or enough books either. (Our huge swag of books from the trade show has long been posted home.) So the horror of running out of reading before you get to the next book shop is always around the corner. I have many podcasts and vid on standby should it come to that.

Scott and his iphone

Not that there’s much time for reading or catching up with people’s blogs or the news or anything. Scott’s usually on the road to his next gig by 7AM and back in time for a short nap before the evening book signing. Nights off are a blessing spent catching up on everything that has piled up. We have no idea what’s going on in the real world. But we know TONNES of publishing gossip.

We keep meeting the most wonderful people. The escorts have been charming and fun, the booksellers and fans ditto. Yet, we’re meeting so many people that the names of all these folks we’ve just bonded with have left our heads by the next gig. I hear there are new drugs on the market that help with memory. I am SO. VERY. TEMPTED.

Meeting the fans is the very best part. I knew there were a lot of people who were enthusiastic about Scott’s books but I had no idea there were this many. And they’re all so smart and funny and keep giving him the most fabulous home-made pressies. It makes me all teary and so very happy.

Thanks for coming out and saying hi!

Posted by Justine at 11:34, 8 October 2007 under Bloggery, Book tour, Cons & Other Gatherings | 14 Comments »

Comments

Kadie-Wa Says:

good thing that you got your dry cleaning back!! I had to take all of my stuff as carry-ons too when i flew a plane. we didn’t want to risk not having clothes.

those plane seats look comfy! lol. where are you guys headed to now?

October 8th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Patrick Says:

my god! That woman in the background! isn’t that glugmumpisfum the intergalactic terrorist in disguise? can’t you tell by the glowing neck?

October 8th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Kenina-chan Says:

tired much? heh

October 8th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Barry Says:

And wouldn’t you know we turned up the furnace back in NYC, just so that by the time you get back, all the fuel will be spent and it will be cold!!

Glad you’re enjoying yourselves, even with the exhaustion.

October 8th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
coe booth Says:

It sounds like you guys are having a great time, what with all the free books and physical exhaustion! Ha ha. I don’t think I could ever go anywhere with just a carry-on. (I’m a bit of a schlepper!)

Good luck with the rest of the tour, and I’ll be by in November to collect some of those free books, just to get them off your hands, of course!

See you soon. I miss you!

October 8th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
maureen Says:

airplane scott looks very peaceful. maybe more peaceful than earthbound scott. Why is that?

October 8th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
isabella Says:

intergalactic terrorist? hmm…

Glad you guys got your drycleaning back… sounds like quite an experience with the lack of clothes. the plane looks nice

October 8th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
hillary! Says:

You still seem to have ample enough time to post alot, or I just haven’t been checking often enough. Did you REALLY get to meet Alice Walker? Because if you did then I need details, because I LOVE her! I WORSHIP her!

October 8th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Robert Legault Says:

I’m not a big fan of e-books, but i do have text files of a couple books and pdf’s of some comics on my laptop just in case I ever forget to bring along a book, or finish the one I’m reading. Once in a while they’ve come in very handy.

I also sometimes copy long magazine articles that I find online but don’t have time to read into a text file and keep them around to read at leisure.

October 8th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Tim Walker Says:

One small suggestion on clothes, f.w.i.w.: you can post them (or Fedex, etc.), too. Either you can forward some clothes to a future destination, or you can buy extras where you are and then ship home the excess. Yes, this can get spendy in a hurry, esp. if you weren’t planning to buy clothes, but it is a doable option if you truly get strapped for something decent to wear.

October 8th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Laura Says:

I have to agree.

They seated look absolutely comfy !

October 8th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
Laura Says:

Wow I messed up on that one —

Let me redo that —

Thoes seats look absolutely comfy.

October 8th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Patrick Says:

toes heats sook labsomutely colfy?

October 8th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Carbonel Says:

Two words: rick steves.

True: Two carry-on bags and two computer bags cannot fit all the clothes you need for three weeks

in the sublime comfort and stylin’ shoes we all deserve. But… it can still do it. Shoot, I did it for two-and-a-half-weeks in Italy (no room service, but I did get to a laundromat. once.)

There are all kinds of trips and tips for traveling very light, but very completely: Mr. Steves and his travel guides cover most of them quite well (your public library will have copies, of course)

October 9th, 2007 at 12:05 am