I won't even try to wrap up the tour for you--too many days, too many stops. Peggy has posted quite a few nifty photos. I met thousands (literally) of friends of the work (to borrow May Sarton’s phrase), but some people and events definitely stand out in my memory. High on the list is Art Morgan's Holly How Cottage (Art lives in Monticello IN, where the house is now on display in the Monticello library.) Isn't it delightful? Just think of all the time and creative energy that went into the project! Thank you, Art--very, very much. Miss Potter would be thrilled with it, I know. She had a very soft spot in her heart for dollhouses.
Other high points, many of them. There were the many people who drove for hours to come to a signing; the delicious herbal goodies prepared by loving hands; the small-town libraries that posted beautiful displays of the books; the stormy night we had stand-room-only in the mystery bookstore in Mechanicsburg PA on a rainy Saturday night; the little North Carolina town where 30-some people turned out for lunch at their local bookstore; the outstanding service from National Car Rental when they helped me swap out rental cars in Roanoke; Bill’s voice on my cell phone twice a day, connecting me to home; and Julie (my publicist) in New York and Peggy (my right-hand gal) in Austin, both standing by to help when I needed them. Lots of people put a lot of work into planning and preparing for my visits, and special effort into making me feel at home. Love and kisses and thanks to all of you!
Of course, there were a few lows, too. There was the bookstore (I will be sweet and not name it) where the owner forgot to tell the staff that I was coming, so that when people called for information, all they got was “duh.” No advertising. No books, either. The owner told me they were "lost" in his storeroom and he'd been too busy getting his son off to his high school prom to look for them. (Honest. Could I make up a lie like that?) There was getting lost in the pouring rain on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, trying to locate the exit among a forest of orange marker barrels wth an eighteen-wheeler nosing my rear bumper. There was the old blue truck that pushed me up over the curb in Roanoke, taking out a pair of passenger-side tires on my rent car. And there was missing Bill and the dogs and the roses in my garden--April is our prettiest month here at MeadowKnoll.
But still, the best tour ever. In business terms (that is, by the numbers, the way my publisher measures things), it was an outstanding success: BLEEDING HEARTS made the New York Times extended bestseller list and was #1 on the Independent Mystery Booksellers list for April. In personal terms, it was a joy to meet so many of China's friends and Ruby's admirers and to talk non-stop about books and herbs, two of my passions. So thanks to all who made it possible and made it work.
I have more things to do this month, here in Texas. As these are finished, I can begin to turn my attention back to THE TALE OF HAWTHORN HOUSE (the fourth of the Cottage Tales, nearly half-done), and family and home and garden. I'm back where I belong.
Reading note: To discover our true address, we will have to stay off the interstates, avoid the friendly franchises, climb out of our cars, hunt up guides who have lived heedfully in place, and we will have to walk around with eyes and ears open to the neighborhood.--Writing from the Center, by Scott Russell Sanders