Tales from the BOOK TOUR...part 5

I have been going to a variety of venues on my book tour. Bookstores are the obvious first stop for an author with a new book, and I've been to many great indie bookstores so far (and have many more scheduled through the next few months).

A 1000-Mile Walk on the Beach has taken me to less traditional book tour stops.

I've been to senior centers, retirement communities, the Inland Seas Education Association, Kingman Museum, Cottage and Lakefront Living Show, several libraries, and a fundraiser for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Whew!

Coming up, the book will take me to REI Stores in several states to
lecture about my adventure and my favorite gear from my hike. I'll also share my secrets for keeping my feet happy for 1,000 miles.

(Okay, my feet were pretty UNhappy for the first 400 miles or so until I learned these tricks.)

Here's a bit of video from the tour this month. A big thanks to Sunset Retirement's Waterford Campus for hosting a reading/signing and for choosing me to be their featured speaker at a dinner that evening. Also in this clip, The Nature Connection Store of Kalamazoo had me sign books during the city's monthly Art Hop. Then I did a reading and signing at Saturn Booksellers in Gaylord, Michigan. I had a fantastic time!







Breaking news:

A 1000-Mile Walk on the Beach was just named a finalist in the
Science/Nature/Environment category of the
2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards!

Pre-Trek Planning

I was up north skiing this weekend at Crystal Mountain (the photo is the ski hills lit up at night). And, of course, I took some time to get out to the lake.

First, I went to Beulah, a small town at the base of Crystal Lake and stopped in at the Five Corners Store (http://www.fivecornersstore.com/). Bill and Patty Cary, and Bill's sister, Cathy, and stepson Billy were catching their breath after registering over a hundred fishermen and women for an ice fishing contest that day. They have a great store and they were excited to hear more about the lake trek. [Bill had coached my cousin Milene's son's soccer team, and she had mentioned my adventure to Bill.] They said that they'd love to stock the book in their store when it comes out, so I stopped in to meet the family and to see what they were catching out on Crystal Lake (perch, trout, and some fish that is considered to be 'freshwater lobster' that I'd never heard of before).

After promising to stop back in while on my journey this summer, I drove out to Frankfort, a cute little town on the shores of Lake Michigan with a deep, natural harbor. After stopping in at The Bookstore there (a lovely independent bookstore on Main Street), I parked at the beach. Oh, man was it cold! The wind was blowing and the sheet ice filled the mouth of the harbor. Outside the harbor, the waves had tossed and stacked the sheet ice into a rugged ridge about ten feet high.

I walked out on the pier a bit, until my ears (even under my hat and hood) stiffened with the cold. I love standing on the shores of West Michigan because the wind blows across all that water and it's clean and alive when it hits you. I've been to this harbor several times in all kinds of weather, and I stood their shivering and imagining what it would look like in June when I'd be walking this segment. It made me want to start right there, right then.

The start of the trek will have to wait, but not much longer. I will begin in Chicago, on the end of Navy Pier, March 16. From there, I will hike seventy miles (over five days) to New Buffalo, Michigan. Segment 2 will also happen in March, and Segment 3 in April.