Tour Wrap
Under the heading of “Better Three Months Late Than Never,” I thought I’d better put the Gutshot Straight January world tour to bed.
After finishing up the Midwest leg of the tour, I flew out of Milwaukee and into Phoenix. This was late January, remember, and Phoenix – not, historically, one of my favorite cities – never felt so good. And I started to understand, at a much deeper level than I ever had before, one key reason for the post-war westward migration from Rust to Sun Belt.
I drove straight down to Tucson, where thanks to Priceline I spent the night at a luxe but spookily deserted mountain resort (no blood pouring from the elevators, but glassy-eyed children in 19th-century school uniforms did keep popping up freaking everywhere). The next day I dropped by Clues Unlimited to sign stock and chat with owner Chris Acevedo about books, dogs, and lovely Tucson (I definitely want to go back there).
After that, I turned around and motored back up to Phoenix, where I had a mid-day reading at the Velma Teague Library in Glendale. Lesa Holstine, a nationally-syndicated reviewer of crime and mystery fiction, runs the terrific reading series at the Velma Teague, and I had a great time there (as well as a excellent homestyle Mexican food at a restaurant across the street from the library).
From Glendale I drove across town to Scottsdale for an evening event at the legendary Poisoned Pen Bookstore. There was a nice turn-out, and the audience included fellow writer Jeffrey Siger, author of acclaimed thrillers set in Greece, and Sarah Spears, my former student, former dogsitter, current good friend, and I-hope-not-but-if-necessary my future high-powered criminal defense lawyer. Patrick Millikin was one hell of an excellent moderator, grilling my ass backwards and forwards with a series of thoughtful, penetrating, and funny questions. I answered them all with as much truth as I could muster.
From Phoenix (where, again, thanks to Priceline I stayed at a luxe but spookily-deserted desert resort), I flew to San Diego. I hit Mysterious Galaxy to sign stock and laugh pretty much non-stop at the very funny Linda Tonnesen. From there I drove up to Orange County, where my cousin Jim Harrigan (you remember him from this post) and his wife, Katy, hosted a party for me. I’d started my tour with family, in Austin, so it was great to end it that way. I’d been in the air when the Today Show aired the segment where John Searles picked Gutshot Straight as one of the winter’s best reads, but Jim had DVRed it for me so I got to see my book jacket’s national TV debut on the big screen. Jim had already gone seriously above and beyond in the generosity department, but this was the mother of all book parties – complete with a chocolate fountain and lots of saucy blonde California girls (see photo). I was pretty tired when I got to the party, but full of energy by the time I left, thanks to all the interesting people I got a chance to chat with. I won’t name them, at the risk of leaving someone out, but they provided me with enough material for another two or three books.
After finishing up the Midwest leg of the tour, I flew out of Milwaukee and into Phoenix. This was late January, remember, and Phoenix – not, historically, one of my favorite cities – never felt so good. And I started to understand, at a much deeper level than I ever had before, one key reason for the post-war westward migration from Rust to Sun Belt.
After that, I turned around and motored back up to Phoenix, where I had a mid-day reading at the Velma Teague Library in Glendale. Lesa Holstine, a nationally-syndicated reviewer of crime and mystery fiction, runs the terrific reading series at the Velma Teague, and I had a great time there (as well as a excellent homestyle Mexican food at a restaurant across the street from the library).
From Glendale I drove across town to Scottsdale for an evening event at the legendary Poisoned Pen Bookstore. There was a nice turn-out, and the audience included fellow writer Jeffrey Siger, author of acclaimed thrillers set in Greece, and Sarah Spears, my former student, former dogsitter, current good friend, and I-hope-not-but-if-necessary my future high-powered criminal defense lawyer. Patrick Millikin was one hell of an excellent moderator, grilling my ass backwards and forwards with a series of thoughtful, penetrating, and funny questions. I answered them all with as much truth as I could muster.
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