How Not to Go on Book Tour

Okay, I'll keep this simple: Don't go on book tour with the flu.

To be fair, I didn't start off with the flu. In fact, I even got a flu shot before I set off, so I'd be protected from germy strangers. Moreover, I still don't know for certain if it was influenza or some other vicious and potent virus.

In Minneapolis I woke in the middle of the night with shaking chills and sweats, but in the morning I was able to carry on. It went on like that. For each event, I pulled myself together, smiled, and did a good job. I washed my hands a lot and took Tylenol and didn't sneeze on anybody, and I don't think I spread pestilence in my wake. But nausea, weakness, sweats, chills, and disturbed sleep got worse every night, and finally, in Palo Alto, California, I turned myself in. I had my son take me to a clinic and I ended up spending the night in the hospital, complete with blood cultures, abdominal ultrasound, cardiac echo, and a lot of other stuff you don't want to hear about. I missed my final event, and guess what, they survived without me.

In retrospect, I probably should have turned tail for home at the first shiver. I could have spent the week in bed sipping chicken soup and ginger ale and sleeping and not looking at my Amazon rank.

I'm home now, recuperating. Next big book event is tomorrow.

So just to rephrase: If you're on tour, and you think you have the flu, go home.

Miscellaneous catch-up

My friend Denise Jaden has kindly posted an interview with me on her blog. She's a master of brevity and getting straight to the point.

I'm home for a day and a half between Minneapolis and Washington, DC. In Minneapolis I learned that it's hard for an unknown author to get a good audience at a book talk unless she's on her home turf and can count on friends and family to drag people in. However, I did have some lovely chats with old friends who came to readings, and I spent a heart-warming hour with two little girls, three and eight years old, trying their hands at Tangrams, synonyms, and doing mazes in the mirror.

Tomorrow afternoon I go down to DC, where on Thursday morning I'll get to try out the whole Lexicon event - all nine stations - on a captive audience of 80 to 90 schoolchildren in their school library. This will be the first real test of whether we've put together an engaging and manageable event. I'm sure I'll learn a lot.