Book Street at the Scottsdale Art Festival

Meeting people, selling books, enjoying the buzz and the sunshine.
To our left, someone selling books about her rescued dogs and a basket
full of homemade dog treats. So Bao is happy.
We're sharing a table with two psychologists who have written a self-
help book -- which, of course, is what one does nowadays, if one is a
psychologist. Across the way, the author of a diet book.
Most of the people who come to art festivals are looking for art,
rather than books. So we're mostly buying stuff from one another. I
know, I should be home, packing. But this is more fun.

I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged! But so much has been happening.
We sold our house in Tucson. That was traumatic. But it had to be done. The neighborhood has changed rather dramatically, and it was time to move on. Actually, the "plan" for the past couple of years has been to downsize in Arizona, and upsize in Rocky Point. Problem is, we did it back to front. Well, I did it back to front. Bao just went along. He always goes along. It is one of his virtues.
But it's all worked out. We got a great bargain here in Rocky Point, and lost money in Tucson. Swings and roundabouts. And now we're moving to Scottsdale.
We've rented a fabulous condo at Optima, right across the street from Fashion Square, walking distance from Old Town. Cafes and wine bars galore. And no more HOA dues. (No more HOA) No more property taxes. No more water. No more gas. No more insurance. All we have to pay is the electricity bill, and of course, the rent. But wait'll you see the place!
We've been spending a lot of time here in Mexico, recharging our batteries. Bao is seeing a homeopathic veternarian, and although we're into some very odd things, there has definitely been an improvement. He's pooping normal little poops. This is nice.
Next week, we'll be at Book Street at the Scottsdale Arts Festival, promoting Sea Changes. If you're in the area, come and visit us and Bao will give you a kiss. So will I.

Here's Bao, minding our stall at the First Annual Sedona Book Festival.
It was wonderful. It was fantastic. It was absolutely incredible. We sold 30 copies of Sea Changes -- and chatted with people and had a glorious (if somewhat exhausting) day.
This is the first Book Festival we've done, although we're doing another one in Scottsdale, just before Thanksgiving.
I have to say, Book Festivals are much more fun than Trade Shows, probably because the people who come to Book Festivals actually read books and like talking to authors. One thing that's surprised me is that many booksellers don't like authors very much. This is especially true of independent booksellers. I find this counter intuitive, because you'd think independent booksellers in particular would be delighted to have an author come and spend a few hours in their store drumming up business. Instead, they act as if they're doing you a favor. Which I suppose they are. But you're doing them a favor, too.
The big chains are different. Borders and Barnes & Noble are both more approachable, and friendler than many of the independents I've approached -- which of course is the opposite of what I expected.
Anyhow, we had a great day. It's not so much about selling books as it's about having fun. And we certainly had fun.

Funny story.
As you know, Bao's constipation has been an issue. (I almost cancelled the whole Denver thing) Happily, our veternarian solved the problem. The prescription was a tablespoonful of pureed pumpkin every day. Of course, getting Bao to accept the pumpkin was something of a challenge. I ended up buying packets of thin-shaved turkey slices, and wrapping the pumpkin in them. Little packets of yummy. Don't laugh. It works.
But I've certainly been paying attention to what does -- or doesn't -- come out. And on our last day in Denver, when nothing came out, I was concerned. What should I do? Metamucil? Milk of Magnesia?
However, the next morning at our Durango motel, all systems turned out to be go, and I was happy, and relieved.
"Good boy!" I said, as if he'd just laid golden eggs. "What a good boy! Oh! and here's another little poo! What a nice little poo! Bao is such a good boy!"
It was at this point that I realized half a dozen people were standing there staring bemusedly at us. Staring at me, actually. I almost started to explain about the constipation, but then I thought, I'm just not going there.
So I smiled, and scooped the poop, and kept walking.

This is what our booth at the Trade Show looked like. Actually, doing a Trade Show was a bit like having a baby -- an interesting experience, but not one I'd want to repeat. You stand there and smile. And smile and smile and smile, whether anyone smiles back, or not. Disapppointingly, there weren't nearly as many people as the organizers had promised. Par for the course, I was told by other exhibitors. Ah, well. You live and learn.
We took a different route home from Denver, through Durango and Flagstaff. It's beautiful country, especially in Colorado. The leaves are changing, and some of the vistas were truly spectacular. You don't see anything like this in Australia. I sometimes think Americans don't realize how very beautiful this country is!
So it was delightfully scenic, but it was also slow -- mostly two-lane highways (one lane each way) and a lot of roadwork. Six hours of driving for each of the first two days, four hours yesterday. I really must teach Bao how to drive!
Back home in Tucson, our so-called monsoon has ended. We got a grand total of three inches of rain. I'm thinking that instead of calling it The Monsoon, they should dub this annual non-event, The Dribble.

Bao's idea of heaven is breakfasting in bed on sausages and crispy bacon, followed by a nap among the feather-filled pillows before his morning walk.
He is loving this part of the book tour. He loves to roll on the cool tiles in the lobby. He loves the grass and the trees and the myriad "messages" left by all the other visiting dogs at this very pleasant and pet-friendly hotel. He loves sitting on his own little chair at our booth and being told he's gorgeous. Bao is having a ball.
I'm enjoying it, too. We're not allowed to actually sell books -- the idea is to allow librarians and booksellers to become familiar with new titles. Later today, I'm participating in an Author Signing in which we autograph and give away up to 100 copies of Sea Changes. I don't mind -- if these people enjoy reading Sea Changes, they'll order additional copies for their stores and libraries. That's the plan, anyhow. And it's difficult to "fail" when you're handing out freebies!
So this morning, we're both happy campers.

It snowed. I kid you not -- about 50 miles south of Denver, the temperature dropped and the rain turned to snow. My car is not eqipped to handle snow. I am not eqipped to handle snow. I would have got off the road and waited for it to stop, but the visibility was so bad I was afraid to change lanes. Bao was asleep, and no help at all.
Anyway, here we are in Denver for the Mountains Plains Independent Bookseller Trade Show. The idea of the exercise is to make booksellers and librarians from Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Wyoming, South Dakota, Texas and Utah aware of the fact that this wonderful new novel called Sea Changes exists. You can't say I'm not trying!
Our booth looks really good but alas! Until I get home and can plug this device into my computer and download the gmail update, I am unable to send photos from the iPhone to Blogger. You might say we've been updated right out of the system. But you know what they say. In cyberspace, nobody can hear you scream.