Thirteen States, Eight Bookstores, and Twenty-One Days - Part II
I hope you've read Part One. If not, stop and find it, and you'll get the whole picture of an action-packed twenty-one-day book signing tour. We left off having spent the night of Saturday, September 23rd, at Devil's Lake, ND. We got up the next morning and drove to Grand Foks, ND. Outside of Grand Forks is Grand Forks Air Force Base. We went onto the Base to see what it was like. As a retired Air Force couple, this is what we do. We were very impressed with the Base, and if I had stayed in my original career field, I could have been assigned there.
We continued to Ferguson Books and were met by Patty. She coordinated events for the three Ferguson stores and was great to work with. We did a Facebook live segment before the store was open to the public. The store had a nice stream of readers, and we sold more books. At noon, we packed up and went to West Fargo, ND, for our afternoon signing. The store was in a good location, sharing an entrance with a busy coffee shop. I haven't mentioned it in either of these last two blogs, but I had my guitar with me at each store, and people seemed to enjoy that I sang and talked about the book.
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We spent the night in Fargo, ND, and the next day, headed east to explore Minnesota and Wisconsin over the next several days. Our travels included stops in International Falls, Duluth, Green Bay, Eau Claire, Lake Geneva, Madison, St. Paul, and Minneapolis over the next several days. We toured Lambeau Field in Green Bay. What a fantastic place. We stayed in Woodbury Park, MN, the night before my next signing at Cherry Street Books in Alexandria, MN. Emily and Ann hosted us on Friday afternoon, September 29th, and they had a friendly group of folks there when we arrived. I put on a program for them similar to what I've done at libraries or historical societies. We were well received, and they enthusiastically asked for books.
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We spent the night in Alexandria and drove to Park Rapids, MN, the following morning. Before arriving at Beagle and Wolf Books, we drove out to Lake Itasca State Park to see the headwaters of the Mississippi River. It was a beautiful place and an amazing experience. Sally, the bookstore's owner, was a very attentive and welcoming host. I met her daughter and husband and a reviewer who had read Destiny and provided wonderful comments. Sue "Ever" Ready is a ball-of-fire and just as warm and friendly a person as you'll ever meet. We sold books and then wrapped up the final signing for the tour.
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Linda and I drove through Des Moines, IA, Kansas City, MO, and Oklahoma City, OK, and along the way, we stopped and saw one more Air Force Base. This time, it was Whiteman AFB in Missouri. I need to finish this, and it was a very wonderful three weeks, and I learned a lot. Thanks to Krista Soukup and Janelle Wilson at Blue Cottage Agency for helping me set it up.
Happy Trails,
Joe