Tour notes

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I've more-or-less unpacked. I've stacks of papers and books everywhere, thoughts scattered. Before I move on, I want to note down some memorable moments from my tour. There were so many.

Diane, my wonderful escort in Chicago, had previously owned a bookstore out west, not long before. She loved the Josephine B. Trilogy and had hand-sold lots. She told me how furious customers could get if the 2nd or 3rd in the Trilogy was not in stock. She and her staff came to call any frustrated customer response "that Josephine B. look." (I love this.)

(An aside: Diane and one of the bookstore owners got into an interesting discussion on the differences between male and female book-buyers. Men, in general: don't browse, need lots of space, don't like being crowded, buy non-fiction, don't discuss a book with staff or other customers, buy greeting cards in 15 seconds, while women will linger over the cards for some time. It was this last I found most amusing. I can't imagine buying a greeting card without reading nearly every one on the rack, but I'd never imagined that I was hard-wired to do so.)

One of the most moving things about publishing is when other artists are inspired to create something of their own in response to a work. I've mentioned earlier in this blog meeting Rachel Maes, who wrote "To Destiny," an 8-page epic poem inspired by the Josephine B. Trilogy. In St. Louis I met the director, Janet Park Datema, and dancer, Beckah Voigt, of the one-woman dance performance inspired by the Trilogy and performed in St. Louis in the fall of 2004.

Beckah, Head of Dance Program at Webster University, also does "energy work" — and treated me to an astonishing session. She knew nothing of Mistress of the Sun, yet during the session had a strong image of a flying white horse (which tells me that Diablo is still very much with me).

I loved meeting other authors while on tour. In West Chester, PA, I met Susan Holloway Scott, author of Royal Harlot, Duchess, and coming soon, The King's Favorite, about Nell Gwyn. In a Borders event in Wilmette, IL, I met Aimée Laberge, Canadian author of Where the River Narrows. I had blurbed this wonderful historical novel, so it was a pleasure to meet Aimée. We had previously met, but only briefly, at a Writers' Union AGM in Montreal. At another Borders event in Birmingham, MI, I met aspiring writer Karen Batchelor, a life coach who wants to write about her slave ancestors, and Philine Tucker, an award-winning romance writer who is now turning to historical fiction.

In California, I began seeing family at events. At Borders in Thousand Oaks, just north of LA, my sister Robin and her fiance Betsy (partners for decades and soon to be married this wonderful Summer of Love in California) as well as Betsy's mom Alma greeted me enthusiastically.

While in LA, I met, at last, Dan Smetanka — a brilliant editor who had been so important in the evolution of Mistress of the Sun. We'd worked closely together — the relationship between an editor and writer can be intensely intimate — but had never met. We talked in an exploratory way about The Next Novel.

The following night, at famous Volman's bookstore in Pasadena, I was surprised to see three people. First, Manuel Romo and his wife. My husband and I know Manuel well — we rent a casita from him when we go to a beach in Mexico every January — but I'd never seen him in a jacket and reading glasses and long pants, and certainly never expected to see him in California. He laughed at my puzzlement, "You don't recognize me!"

Then there was Alisha and her husband Andy. Alisha is a cousin's daughter (second-cousin, then?), and a dear family connection. She spends hours each week with the apes at the zoo and has learned how to communicate with them. I persuaded her to share this special language at my reading. I have it on video and will post it as soon as I get my computers sorted out.

And then there was Bonnie Sachs, with whom I'd shared a glorious week on horseback in the Loire Valley. We had a wonderful time relating stories.

Once in San Francisco, in the Bay Area, I was truly in home territory, a wonderful place to end the tour. At Book Passage in Corte Madera, I met virtual friend and author, Deborah Grabien, close family friend Andrée Morgana, who brought Suzy and Val from high school days (!), my brother's wife Jenny with her mother and aunt, and — now back in northern California — soon-to-be sister-in-law Betsy. I've never had so many photographs taken — they were like paparazzi!

Then, the next day in San Francisco, after a full morning of bookstore stock signing, I had a wonderful lunch-meet with historical novelist Christopher Gortner, who glowingly reviewed Mistress of the Sun for the Historical Novels Society. It's a special thing when a reader strongly "clicks" with your work, and the more so when that reader is a writer. Christopher's novel The Last Queen will be out shortly — I'm very much looking forward to reading it.

And then, at a wonderful last event in Oakland, at A Great Good Place for Books: brother Perry and Jenny (again!), aunt Dildar, my 90-year-old dad, Bob Zentner, who I induced to demonstrate in my wig. (Photo to come.)

Also there: writer, anthologist and pal Victoria Zackeim, her daughter and her daughter's two daughters (such a beautiful family), as well as — tra la! — three members of Books et Al, a book club that had read Mistress of the Sun in draft before it was published, and whose feedback had been so important to the final final final draft.

And thus came to an end a four-week tour I had expected to exhaust and deplete me, but which I enjoyed enormously.

This photo was taken by Jenny at this last event:

600 steps

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I'm in L.A., in the swank Beverley Meridian at Rodeo and Wilshire Drives ("the center of glamour and grandeur in Beverly Hills"): everything costs ... lots. I'm not paying, but it irks me to sign a $38.62 bill for a simple continental breakfast with stale croissants. It's 5:00 in the morning, and there's no coffee pot in the room. I'm a captive to expensive room service.

I've learned a few things on this trip:

The Denver airport is one of the largest in the U.S., the size of Manhattan. The line to get to the first stage of security was 600 steps.

The Hotel Monaco chains are great: ecologically sensitive, designed for comfort. In Seattle, there was wine plus a free Tarot card reading in the hotel lobby at 5:00: so west coast.

The Trump Tower hotel in Chicago was the best hotel I've ever stayed at in my life: it sets a new standard for comfort. (Not only Starbucks coffee makings, but a fully-equipped kitchen.)

In La Jolla, north of San Diego, the La Valencia hotel was a treat. My room -- #922 — must have been one of the best in the hotel, a corner room overlooking ocean on both sides. A complimentary fruit basket and bottle of Merlot on arrival, lovely restaurants and shoping close-by (not to mention the ocean) — I could have stayed there a week. The most welcome thing was to be able to open the doors onto the balcony, hear ocean and gulls, feel fresh air. I've come to miss that, living in hotel rooms.

This was the view from my hotel room in La Jolla:



One nice thing about my suite here in L.A. is that it opens onto a roof terrace. (Should security concern me?) I'm going to stop complaining about the expensive coffee and stale croissants and simply enjoy it. I've the day off, and I intend to spend it creatively.

A long day

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Saturday was a long and challenging day, but the excellent co-ordination of my escorts — Larry and Ken — made it effortless. It began in La Jolla, checking out of my hotel in gown.



Then, to the La Jolla Arts Festival, where Warwick's bookstore had a booth set up. They'd never tried this, and I was their first test case. As always, it only takes one ardent fan to make an event worthwhile for me. (Too, meeting a man who lovingly restores and then sells antique cars, and uses the money to take a family off the street — to save them — three families so far. So moving.)

I changed out of my gown in a Whole Foods washroom, and then my escort Larry and I headed north. After about an hour, at a Barnes and Noble between La Jolla and Thousand Oaks, I was "handed over" to escort Ken. Then began the long drive to Thousand Oaks, for an event at an extraordinary Borders, a bookstore and coffee shop/restaurant in a former bowling alley.



There — hugables! — sister Robin, Betsy and Betsy's mom Alma.




And "Ladies of The Book Club" (Pam Clark, Shari Mark, and Brenda Alibrandi sitting, Barbara Schwartz and Dawn Drost standing):



It was a wonderful event, in large measure due to the vibrancy and energy of the wonderful staff and great food:



And then the drive to glamorous Beverley Wilshire hotel in the heart of LA, where they did not have a room, so I had to "make do" with a large and sunny suite. I'm in LA for three nights: time enough to have The Gown sent to the laundry and to recharge all the batteries, including my own.

There is always weather

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I'm in lovely Seattle now — such a beautiful city. They've had non-stop overcast skies and rain for weeks (months!), I'm told, and my event fell on the second day of sun, so I was surprised, and pleased, that some people came out to my reading.

One thing I've learned: when it comes to book events, there is always weather. It will invariably be too hot, too cold, too stormy, too wet or simply too nice for people to go out. (I don't blame them: I'm the same way.) And if it isn't the weather, there's a sports event, a concert, or it's grad night in town. So all the more reason to applaud the fans and friends and family who so loyally and enthusiastically show up ... they make it so worthwhile.

Last night, I had the chance to see San Miguel friend Susan Rushton and her dear mother Ruby. Such a treat! As well, some truly ardent long-time fans. It was wonderful: virtual hugs to all.

Today I fly to San Diego. I've fought off a threatening cold (yay), but suffered my first injury: a wrenched left-hand. Thankfully not my signing hand. Fat Sharpies are excellent ergonomically in that respect: I feel I could sign books forever. In Sharpie fervor, I've now taken to offering readers a selection of colors: hot pink is the run-away favorite.

Room service treats

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The Brown Palace in Denver featured high tea ...



... and a fresh rose with each room service. By the end of my three-day stay I'd aquired a bouquet.

The Bookworm in Edwards, CO

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It was a two-and-a-half hour drive from Denver to Edwards, but well worth it. The Bookworm is one of the best bookstores I've seen, and they really know how to put on an event: great advertising, good wine, exceptionally tasty appetisers.

Okay, this may sound silly, but I discovered the first sign of their savvy advertising in the washroom:



What a perfect place for an ad! It's a universal truth known to all bookstore owners that book browsing and the need to use a washroom are mysteriously yet biologically linked. (Seinfeld confirmed this in a skit.)

It was a great audience. Many of them had already read — and loved! — Mistress of the Sun.



There were 51 in attendance, a number of them from book clubs. Here is another mother/daughter portrait: Therese and her lovely daughter, Rachel.



Another mother told me that she was looking forward to going to Paris with her daughter. They had read the Trilogy and would be tracing Josephine's route. What did I suggest? I recommended that she read Walks through Napoleon & Josephine's Paris by Diana Reid Haig. This is a gorgeous book, recently given to me by a very special person, Janet Park Datema (more on Janet later), in St. Louis. Another good guide I recommend to Trilogy tourists (of whom there are a number!) is You Go Girl Paris. The authors list many Josephine B. sites to see.

All-in-all, a fabulous evening! Thank you, Bookworms all.

Posted from Denver

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"How did you survive the other night?" my Media Escort asks the bookstore owner, and immediately I know. "Let me guess," I say. "David Sedaris?" They groan in happy misery, having been up until 2:00 in the morning for one of his legendarily long book signings. "He's trying to set a world record," someone tells me.

Everywhere I go, it seems, David Sedaris has been there before me. And now I discover that he'll be signing books at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena the night before I'm due there. I can see it now, the fatigued bookstore clerks, the empty store that had been crammed with Sedaris fans only hours before. I am the clean-up crew, following in his wake. It's a good thing I'm one of his fans.

I love book clubs

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This book club in St. Louis has read both Josephine B. and Mistress of the Sun. They make a point to have food for a meeting that's related to the book being discussed. They had brunched on crepes discussing Mistress of the Sun, and then came to see me at Barnes & Noble in Ladue, MO. One of the members had been to my reading years before — I'd been wearing my Napoleonic gown for that one. What will be next?

Fireball Carole Wantz

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St. Louis is my epi-center, I swear. There is so much Josephine B. energy there, and it's all because of Carole Wantz, bookseller extraordinaire at Barnes and Noble in Ladue. She has personally hand-sold over 3000 titles!

The views in St. Louis

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On arriving in St. Louis, I was told, "You must go to see the (flooded) river. Imagine: there's a road under there."



I lay on the grass, on benches, twisted every whichway to try to capture the beauty of the arch. Here is my favourite:

The most beautiful library imaginable

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No, I confess I never expected to find the most beautiful library in the world (surely) in Kansas City: The Kansas City Public Library. A former bank, it's been made over into a library with a coffee shop, theater, communtity spaces -- all those things an ideal library should have. The former vault is a video room: how perfect. There's an out-door life-size chess game. I could go on and on.

This is the entry:




















This is looking into the coffee shop area:


The event itself was with me and UK author Rebecca Stott. I'd read about her historical mystery, Ghostwalk, and it was a pleasure to meet her. A great evening.

(Photo below: Rebecca and me with Roger and Vivien from RainyDayBooks.)

Meeting cyber friends -- at last

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Shauna Singh Baldwin and I have known each other for a long time, through email and our writing, but have only met two times. She gave a moving and elegant introduction to my talk in her hometown, Milwaukee (a beautiful city).
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This is her introduction:

"Many of us are familiar with Sandra Gulland's historical fiction from her highly acclaimed, and beautifully-written Josephine Trilogy. In The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine published in 1995, Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe, published in 1998, and the Last Great Dance on Earth published in 2000 -- Sandra brought Josephine Bonaparte back to life. And instead of a greedy schemer who two-timed Napoleon, we come to know an intelligent woman making the kind of choices and compromises women make every day, even today. The Josephine B. trilogy, has sold over a million worldwide, is now published in thirteen languages and in fifteen countries.

Eight years after the last book in the Josephine trilogy, Sandra brings to life another French woman obscured and reviled by historians, Louise de la Valliere, mistress of the Sun King. Along the way, we meet Molière and Racine as they perform their dramas for the king, and listen to LaFontaine as he wrote his fables. With Louise, we watch Finance Minister Fouquet's arrogance laid low, and the building of Versailles. Again the court of Louis XIV dazzles us, with the intensity of its joie de vivre and sheer excess. Louise is a superb horsewoman besides being a woman of verve and grace, and her riding and hunting endears her to the king.

To no one's surprise, within a week of its publication in Canada, Mistress of the Sun was on Maclean's national best-selling fiction list and remained there for more than two months, rising to #2.

Sandra Gulland, born in Florida and raised in Berkeley California doesn't live in seventeenth century France. Instead she lives just over the border in Killaloe, about 50 miles west of Ottawa, Canada and spends half her year in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. She also lives on the web at www.SandraGulland.com -- a wonderful web site -- has a very active Facebook page, and writes a very interesting blog called Notes on the Writing Life. I don't know if she can stand on a cantering horse like Louise de la Valliere, but she's been riding enough years that I wouldn't put it past her.

Sandra and I have been cyber friends since 1999, and this is only the second time we have met, yet her support and inspiration have often opened new paths for me. Back in 1998 when I was debating taking US citizenship, she took the time to write to me, explaining dual citizenship. When I was researching my second novel, The Tiger Claw, the story of a Muslim woman set in WWII France, she gave me wonderful advice on conducting meticulous historical research -- yes, she should know! We keep meeting on online discussion groups like historicalnovelsociety.org and Readerville and I think we have been engaged on a similar project: illuminating and bringing alive herstory as opposed to history.

So I am delighted and honored to introduce a dear friend and spectacular writer.

Sandra, welcome to Milwaukee!"

Moved to tears

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I was moved to tears by the wonderful epic poem Rachel Maes was inspired to write about Josephine B. She and her mother came to my Borders reading last night in Wilmette, IL. Rachel is going to be going to Roosevelt University in the fall, where I myself graduated. She is consumed with interest in Royals, and wishes to get a PhD in history. As well as such poetry — the language and images fresh and moving — she is working on two novels. Such talent and focus at such a young age!

This is Rachel and her proud mother, Lanne:

Also at this event was Aimee Aimee Laberge, author of Where the River Narrows, a wonderful historical novel, which I "blurbed" some time ago.

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Awesome luncheon!

Sue Boucher is an amazing book-seller. She's sold 1600 Josephine B.! This luncheon for 70 in elegant Loveli's restuarant in Lake Forest, IL, was a fantastic event.

To the left, a photo of Eileen and Beth, a charming mother and daughter.

Naperville rules!

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The event at Anderson's Bookshop in beautiful Naperville, IL, was wonderful! Fantastic group. Among many others: Lady Bonheaur (who has read Mistress of the Sun already, but not — yet — the Trilogy), Jennifer (who wept so hard on a plane finishing the Trilogy that the man next to her asked if she was all right), Janice (who exclaimed so emotionally that the Trilogy were the best books she has ever read she made me tear up, as well), Wendy (who followed Josephine's story to Paris), Cristine (whose cat is named Josephine Bonaparte), and these three wonderful sisters, Laura, Anne and Beth ("And there are two more sisters!" they told me).

Laura had a rare complete set of the Canadian hardcover editions, one of which she found in Germany, through eBay. I was so excited chatting with this wonderful treo of sisters that I messed up signing their books!

Hats off to this wonderful bookstore. Fantastic staff.

Launch of luncheons by Nicola's Books

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I was honored to be the first guest author at a Nicola's Books luncheon in Ann Arbour, IL. It was such a lovely event that I predict that people will be clamouring to come. Nicola, in the blue dress at the front, is a vibrant book-passionate woman, which accounts for how wonderful her busy bookstore is, and how lovely the staff.

I had wonderful chats with the readers after. One, Anna, told me that it was her grandmother's crypt that's mentioned in the last story in Alice Munroe's The View from Castle Rock. Another, Helen, related the story of her father, who was born in a sod house in Rosetown, Sasketchewan.

The example of a book-signing marathoner

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I had been met in the Philadelphia train station by my escort, waving my book to identify herself. She’d had a busy day: David Sedaris had had a reading earlier, from his new book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames. They’d arrived early, before noon, to sign stock. It was six now: my escort thought he might still be there, signing books. On the way to the hotel, we drove by the street the little bookstore was on: yes, there was a crowd at the door. “Standing all this time, in this heat!”

He’d been signing books for over five hours: I was amazed. I’d once signed books for over an hour and that had been exhausting. This was a pro, a gold-medal book-signing Olympic athlete.

Sheba, on Readerville.com, had this to say:

David Sedaris is a book-signing marathoner. He read here a few months ago to a large audience and finished up around 9:00 p.m. I didn't have anything for him to sign, but I'd gotten my free ticket to see him from my friend, who is the director of development at the NPR station here. She and her daughter both had things for him to sign, so we stood in line for two hours, and the line behind us was still huge. Had I been on my own, I never would've waited in that long a line for anything, but my friend and I chatted, and there were spontaneous conversation groups developing throughout the line One reason it moved so slowly is that Sedaris engaged in a leisurely fashion, very specifically and very personally, with every single person in line. He made much of my friend's 14-year-old daughter, and when he found out my friend was with the NPR station and that pledge week was just winding up, he whipped out his checkbook and wrote the station a check for $500.00.

David Sedaris, apparently, not only has multitudes of readers, but he greets each and every one. He takes his time, chats, asks questions: connects.

I started out with a slow procedure at book signings. (When there were only two or three people with a book to be signed, I wanted them to linger.) I arranged to have a chair beside me so that I could chat with each person face-to-face. I used a fountain pen that required some fussing. I made notes about each person in a special notebook.

Over time I’ve become more rushed: no chair for the reader, a Sharpie instead of a fountain pen. At my last readings, I even dispensed with the notebook — but now, I’m thinking: Why? Tonight, in West Chester, perhaps I’ll follow David Sedaris’s example, take my time.

And then I remember that there will be a long drive back to the hotel after, and an early, early morning wake-up for a flight the next morning for an event in Grand Rapids. There will be bookstore employees longing to pack up, go home to bed.

When European authors come to the U.S. on tour, publicists are required to schedule three hours into each day for shopping. No doubt David Sedaris’s publicity schedule has to allow for five or six hours of signing and chatting after each reading.

A day off

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I had the day off yesterday in Philadelphia, the leisure to regroup: shop for small essentials, attend to laundry, nails & toes. I even checked out the spa in the hotel (very nice). Chipped away at a mountain of email. Had a wonderful tuna and mushroom risotto lunch at the Continental, a hip retro restaurant not far from my hotel. The risotto was almost as good as my husband’s.

Richard calls every morning. He’s at the cabin on the lake, and I can almost feel it — the trees in the breeze, the summer sounds of children playing. I’m longing to be there! I’ll have four days back home at the end of this week.

This week: West Chester, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Chicago. Seven events, three new hotels, three airplane flights and a number of very long drives. And temperatures in the 90’s! This week will be a test.

Week one

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It's Saturday, I'm in Philadelphia, and I'm one week into my tour. I have more energy now than when I started. In fact, I could get used to this. I've seen lots of Connecticut by car, flown from New York to Boston, and gone by train from Boston to Philadelphia.

I've signed a zillion books at bookstores — called "signing stock" — and my hand hasn't given out. I'm a Sharpie fan! All through Connecticut, store clerks would ask, "Do you have a Sharpie?" (Not, "Do you have a pen?") Kelly Bowen, my publicist would laugh: "She's got one."

One clerk didn't understand that we were there to sign books. He handed me a copy of Mistress of the Sun. "Have you been waiting long for the new Sandra Gulland?"

"I'm Sandra Gulland, and yes, I've been waiting long." It made my day.

Trish Todd, my publisher, warned me that book sales were down throughout the country, and that turn-outs might be sparce. There seem always to be enough, though, and invariably there are a few present who are huge fans, who make it all worthwhile.

New York talk video

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Here is a YouTube link to a video of the beginning of my New York reading. I promised son Chet that I would try to embarrass him, and I believe I succeeded!