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My folks made it home tonight after a very long and eventful trip up from Florida to their place outside of London, Ontario. You’d think they’d be able to relax now, but nooooooooooooo. The Canadian tour kicks off next, but before that I’ve repurposed them to meet with one of my authors. Kirsten Holmstedt, author of Band of Sisters and the forthcoming The Girls Come Marching Home, is in London for a conference and will be meeting my folks for breakfast tomorrow morning after which mom and dad will drive her to the airport. During the US leg of the tour my parents invariably talked up my military history line as well as books I have coming out from Stackpole, so it was a case of serious multi-tasking. Stackpole via me via my parents is a full service publisher 🙂

I think I could actually use the word synergy somewhere here and have it be apropos…but I won’t.

Covers are coming soon (Japanese edition and British B Format edition for Darkness, and the hardcover of Light of Burning Shadows). There’s an expanded “Publishing 101” section in the About the Author page, and a world map of the um, world, as it’s known for the first two books.

We’re still fine tuning things (which means my designer is while I send her all kinds of suggestions that may or may not work) so if you have ideas that would help make it more user friendly please let me know.

The RV tour gets back on the road tomorrow as they make their run to the border and home where they will blitz Canada. Special thanks to Kerrie Loyd at Pocket for all her help the last couple of days! And a big thanks as well to my designer, Tessa.

The RV might be in the shop, but my parents were still on the road. They took a swing up into Michigan today and broke the 50 store barrier. Is that the gold store? Thanks to the many helpful people who met with my parents today:

Lead Bookseller Kati at B&N in Ann Arbor; Inventory Supervisor Amy Brown at Borders in Ann Arbor (3527 Washtenaw); Alison and Store Manager Richard Walker at Borders Express in Ann Arbor (Briarwood Mall); Jenni R. (who kindly agreed to take another book to the downtown store) at Borders in Ann Arbor (Waters Place); Karen at B&N in Battlecreek; Russ and Community Relations Manager Mike Culp at B&N in Portage

Thanks today to Store Manager Mary Wright at Borders in Mishawaka and Store Manager Jae Anderson at B&N in Mishawaka. I hope I got the spelling right.

FYI the first book in CC Finlay’s new series debuts tomorrow.

I don’t have the complete list, but apparently the shower door shook loose over a rough patch of road, and there are a few other things that need work, so my parents have pulled into an RV repair shop in Indiana for some scheduled maintenance. I’m sure it’s probably evident, but I love my parents to bits for all the love and support they give me. They’ve always encouraged me to follow my dreams, but I doubt they thought they’d be the ones driving the RV to help me get there 🙂

Might sound like a broken record, but my folks met another group of friendly booksellers who took the time to talk. My appreciation continues to grow, and today I’d like to thank the following:

Store Manager Heidi Goodpaster and bookseller Bob at B&N in Indianapolis (3748 East 82nd Street) and the two other B&Ns they’re going to give books to; Operations Manager Jacqueline Finney at Borders in Indianapolis (6020 East 82nd street); Sales Area Rep Peter Jansen at Borders in Indianapolis (8675 River Crossing Blvd); Assistant Manager Jim at B&N in Fort Wayne (4140 West Jefferson Blvd); Department Manager Rebecca Green and Bookseller Kelly at B&N in Fort Wayne (4201 Coldwater Road); General Manager Nancy Alexander at Borders in Fort Wayne (4320 Coldwater Road)