Today, for the first time ever (that I’ll admit to anyway) I awakened with only the vaguest idea where I was. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a result of some spectacular bit of debauchery. Nor am I complaining. The hotel is grand—a terrycloth robe kind of place. If you’re going to wake up in a strange place, this is the kind of place you would want.
The problem was, I just wasn’t certain which city it was in.
Turns out it’s San Diego.
I was happy to discover this when I opened the blinds—at 4 AM (my body still thinks it’s in the Central time zone).
There were two good things about confirming I was, in fact, in San Diego. First, I love it here. Second, this is where I’m supposed to be.
Yes, I am caught in the fast current of the LUCKY BASTARD Shameless Self Promotion tour. Today was Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore. Yesterday a party thrown by friends in LA, Chuck and Sally Anne Rosenberg (Chuck has written a great legal thriller DEATH ON A HIGH FLOOR). Tomorrow Denver and the fabulous Tattered Cover Bookstore in Highlands Ranch, CO just south of Denver. Then Michigan. Then Florida. Then….
You get the picture.
And I’m having a ball! Unlike a lot of authors I talk with, I actually love this part of the whole being a writer thing. The places you will go, the people you will see! To quote the very wise Dr. Seuss. The people! Their stories! The things they ask!
Fascinating. Uplifting. Sometimes… interesting.

And so critical to my storytelling.
If I sit at home all the time, chained to my computer, locked away from the experience of life, my creative well runs dry. I need to hear stories to write stories.
A book tour is a wonderful vehicle for that—it’s really just and an excuse to see old friends and make new ones. How bad is that?
And think of all the frequent flier miles I’m getting. After this whole thing is done I’m going someplace fabulous, to relax.
Right.
I have a book due August 1st.
You know what I did this morning when I awakened at 4 A.M.? I wrote—got my word count for the day. Before this hotel even started serving coffee.
Ah, the glam life of being an author.
Have you ever wondered why the less expensive hotels have free WiFi and in-room coffee, but the fancy ones want to charge you? Or why you can rent a car for eight days in Miami for a fraction of what it costs for two days in Denver?
When you learn too much, and look too closely, life doesn’t make any sense.
But it sure as heck is fun.
So, I’m sorry this is a bit rambling—I’m totally fried. I think I’ll go enjoy one glass of fine wine, then repair to my room and snuggle up in that thick robe.
Mindless TV is calling.
But, I wonder, as writers are you like me? Do you like the crazy travel, the self-promoting? Or, as readers, do you like to talk with authors, or would you rather just consume the stories without reality seeping in?
Or am I just crazy?