The WHO BURIES THE DEAD Book Tour

Ever since I was first published nearly twenty years ago, I wanted to go on a book tour. Unfortunately, book tours aren't as common as they once were; publishers have decided they're expensive and don't offer a very good return on investment. So I was stunned when my publishers offered to send me on tour for the tenth Sebastian St. Cyr book. Then I saw the schedule and I thought maybe I'd fallen into one of those "be careful what you wish for" scenarios.

Yes, it was exhausting, but it was also unbelievably exhilarating. The nice thing about going on tour for your tenth mystery as opposed to, say, your first, is that the people you're meeting already know your books. I met so many readers who love Sebastian and Hero and Gibson and Tom and Hendon and Kat as much as I do, and I can't tell you how exciting that was. I could talk about these books forever and the book tour gave me the opportunity to do juch that.

The only frustrating aspect (apart from the whole lack of sleep and mealtimes thing) was that I spent so little time in each city. I'd fly in with barely enough time to dump my bags at the hotel and get to the bookstore; have the signing; eat dinner; go to bed; get up at the crack of dawn (or before) to make it to the airport and move on to the next city. It wasn't until Seattle, the last leg of the tour, that I finally had an afternoon to play tourist. And since I hadn't been to Seattle since 1978 (yes: ouch), I loved it. (Thank you, Sabena!)

My hosts ranged from New Orleans' own Garden District Bookstore and Houston's Murder by the Book, both old friends; to the amazingly huge Powell's in Portland (it really says something about the readers of Portland that they support not one, but multiple independent bookstores of that size); to the cozy and charming specialty bookstore, Seattle Mystery Bookshop; to Poisoned Pen, which is a truly awe-inspiring operation. A huge thank you to each and every one of my readers who came out to see me and helped make the tour not just a success, but fun.

And I even managed to snap a photo of Idaho's snow covered mountains and wave as I flew home.

CAUTION: There are spoilers in the comments, so if you haven't finished WHO BURIES THE DEAD, don't read them!

Sunlight on Ripened Grain

Indie's gone. We were hoping for weeks, maybe even months. Instead, we had hours. He's left a yawning hole in our lives and in our hearts.

Do not stand on my grave and weep;

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn's rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush,

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in the circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry.

I am not there. I did not die.

by Mary Elizabeth Frye

Indie Update

We're bringing Indie home today. It is FIP. All we can do is make him comfortable and love him for however many days he has left.

Indie Is Dangerously Sick

I'd planned to do an excited post about my book tour, but I came home to a very sick kitten, and somehow I just can't.

At first, Steve thought Indie was lethargic and not eating because he was missing me. As a result, the alarm bells didn't ring until late Saturday night, when he took a turn for the worse and Steve rushed him to the emergency vet. We took him back this morning, and the vet kept him. They're doing tests but not sure yet what it is--he may have come to us with FIP, which is being complicated by exposure to a flare in Huck's chronic toxoplasmosis. Whatever, he's very dangerously ill.

I think I took all the heartache from losing Banjo last summer and poured it into the tiny kitten that showed up at my door a few weeks later. He's the sweetest little guy imaginable, and I'm so afraid.

This Is the Week!

I'm all packed and ready to head out on my book tour, which officially kicks off with a signing at Garden District Bookshop here in New Orleans on launch day, Tuesday, March 3. Then I'll be heading out to Phoenix on Wednesday, Houston on Thursday, Portland on Friday, and Seattle on Saturday. You can see the schedule   here.

I also have a  guest blog, an interviews, and several new reviews up around the web:

Julie at Romancing the Book has a fun interview with me here. You can read her review of Who Buries the Dead (keep scrolling down below the book blurb)  here .
       
I also have a guest post up at Fresh Fiction. They asked me to write about any real historical events in any of my books, so I talk about the events that inspired Who Buries the Dead. You can read it
here.

And here's their review of the book: http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=51086.

Busy, exciting week coming up!