So the Fall Flights of Fantasy Tour in which Seth Dickinson, Fran Wilde, and I conquered New England ahem, toured various bookstores in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, upstate New York, and Vermont (in precisely that order) was in the past week. It began with a bang in Wellesley Books, where the turnout was huge and incredibly supportive and I signed a copy of Last Song Before Night for Elizabeth Bear and Scott Lynch, which…!
Fran, Seth, and I took turns reading random passages from each other’s books, which seemed as good an icebreaker as any–for the audience and between us. By the end of the tour we were all about promoting Last Song of the Traitorous Updraft or whatever.
Along the way we connected with friends and made new ones. Something about being on the road is conducive to meeting and appreciating new people. And with so many events I had plenty of opportunity to practice my dreaded social skills, something of which I’ve written about at Chuck Wendig’s blog (though New England weather precluded the appearance of the fabled Red Dress of Visibility).
In Portland, one of the highlights was hanging out with the amazing Catherynne Valente, who introduced us to local gems. A bar with its own homemade chocolate cake with dulce de leche frosting wins a thumbs-up from me! Points for having an entrance that looks secret, as to a speakeasy. (Pictured, darkly.) Cat is now touring to promote her new novel, Radiance, which I look forward to reading.
A book tour is kind of a crazy thing, where if you are not in the process of traveling, you are on public display. And weird, stressful things can happen, like a fire alarm that evacuates the hotel into the autumn cold at 4am. A great deal of the experience of a group book tour can hinge on the dynamic of the group. I am so grateful that I got to travel with two excellent people (as well as authors) whom I like even more after hanging with them for days and nights at a time. I am grateful for all that I learned from them and for the support they showed me. Thank you Fran, Seth, and of course the staff at Tor!
Ilana C. Myer 