Favorites on Friday-ish: fans

There are two reasons that I am coming in on Saturday with my Favorites on Friday, one that I love and one that is not-so-great. 

Number one (this is the good one) I am on island time. Friday, in the land of 'soon-come' means that my Friday post shows up midday Saturday, just like the Kittiwake wreck that was to be sunk at 10 am Tuesday actually went down at 2:35 pm on Wednesday. It was a treat to watch and we had a spectacular view of this. Waiting around for it to happen meant more lollygagging on the beach, meant rescheduling such imperatives as Uncle Nick's day to Breakers to teach the boys about catching and cleaning conch, replacing it with more snorkeling and shell collecting instead. I'm okay with island time.

But the second reason is less magical than a relaxed island attitude: this week I lost my trusty little-laptop-that-could. Kids were belly-up to her watching a YouTube, like three little piglets on the electronic teat, a glass of water was on the scene... you can imagine the rest. Everyone: go back up your work now. 

Luckily, my work and photos were backed up at home and J has his laptop here, so I am still on schedule with my last round of revisions for my upcoming manuscript. But without old faithful, I am not so ONE with the computer and checking and answering emails and working in the way I was. In essence, I am getting a tiny bit of a vacation, you know, here on vacation. 

Still... I wanted to take a minute to catch up on the final few days, the tail end of my hardcover tour here in Grand Cayman. I had a really nice interview (thanks Joe!) in the Cayman Compass, all to create awareness about my final bookstore appearance at Books and Books January 7. The night before yesterday's interview on Daybreak 27, Cayman's local channel, I woke up in a cold sweat to realize that I was going to be appearing at 7 am in an interview about my book, and I didn't have a copy of "Chosen" in my possession. (Long story, but it's all part of this private little game I am playing with the airlines where I try to travel without paying any luggage fees, even when all 5 of us are going away for fifteen days, so things like hardcover books that I have read 2,780 times don't make the baggage cut.) Luckily, Holly Smith of Books & Books, who was appearing with me, is not only a competent bookstore manager, but she is also prepared and had a copy tucked in her bag. The show went on.

The interview was brief and smooth--they all shared a little laugh when, right before we went live, I gasped, "I'm not going to have to talk the whole hour, am I?" Between this and not using my hands so much when I speak, I realize I have a bit to learn about television. 

Okay, but the meat of this post, the real thing that was my Favorite Thing on Friday this week, were the readers and organizers, all the dear people who showed up at the bookstore event itself. I know I have talked a lot about how much I love the book clubs, with their casual atmosphere, their different styles, and the ability to reveal all in conversation, not to mention the food. And there have been bookstore events that were sparsely attended, like the one where the only person in the "audience" was a woman sleeping in the area where I was meant to be presenting.

But last night's event at Books and Books was exactly what I imagined when I thought of touring: a curious, intelligent crowd filled with faces that were familiar and many that were new, those who had read and those who were just picking it up, and as usual, as always, my kids milling about trying to con people into buying them things from the children's section. My thanks to everyone who came last night and asked questions, who shared their stories with me afterwards, who came out for drinks and more conversation, who emailed me today even. What a fabulous way to end the hardcover bookstore tour and to put "Chosen" to bed for a bit, though I'm still doing book clubs this spring and paperback will release in August. Thank you all for riding this ride with me...