It does seem very appropriate, on Presidents’ Day, to be writing about my travels across this great nation of ours, as I zigzagged from sea to shining sea with a lot of stops in land-locked locations along the way. My author tour started in Boston and looped through San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, and Nashville before finishing in New Haven.

In all honesty, I didn’t really see the sea on either end (except for a very brief view of San Francisco’s bay, pointed out by my best friend from her car as she drove me in from the airport). My trip might more aptly be described as having been from airport to shining airport. When you’re visiting a city a day, you don’t have terribly much time for sight-seeing, but you do become a connoisseur of airports.

Someone, someday, should write a dissertation on the cultural connotations of airport coffee shops. In New York there was Starbucks, in San Francisco there was Peet’s. In Houston, at the crack of dawn, there was no coffee shop at all, but there was a Mexican restaurant open offering a fascinating concoction called a breakfast taco. It didn’t have caffeine in it, so I moved on. Dallas offered the strongest caramel macchiato it has ever been my good fortune to drink (and when you’re on your fourth city in four days, you appreciate it even more). And they wished me a good day. My departure gate at Nashville had a coffee shop named after– what else?– something to do with country music. Right next to the “achy breaky heart” defribulator on the wall. After several days of this sociological study of mine, any vampire who made the mistake of sinking his fangs into my neck would come away with a serious caffeine buzz, since my veins are running more coffee than blood.

Other highlights of my author tour included:

– Meeting four amazing authors: Tracy Grant, Dean James, Tasha Alexander, and J.T. Ellison, all of whom are as much fun in person as in print. (Whose books everyone should buy! Right away!).

– Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with the Dallas Fort Worth Tea Readers Group. (People who have read all the same books you have AND cheesecake. Who can ask for anything more?).

– The plane that was delayed two hours because someone brought a snake on board (no, really! you can’t make this stuff up). I’m assuming it must have been a pretty big snake because, after that, we were delayed even more while they repaired the lock on the cargo hold. Coincidence? I think not.

– Changing in a very small airport bathroom while a line of people with even smaller bladders began to bang at the door.

– Changing in the back of a cab with my coat spread out over me while exchanging pleasantries about the weather with the cab driver who either really didn’t notice the strange wiggling going on in the back or politely pretended not to.

– Finally getting to change in my hotel room and managing to rip my last pair of tights in three places.

– And, most important of all, meeting a whole bunch of people who get as worked up about my characters as I do. That is a prize above coffee.

Huge thanks to everyone who came out for the various readings (and who didn’t comment on the holes in my tights!). Despite the ten pounds I’ve gained and the huge pile of laundry waiting to be done, I’m already looking forward to doing this again next year. But next year, I’ll bring more tights.

Happy President’s Day!