Notes from the Road: First Stop, Texas

Mansfield, Texas, by way of Dallas/Ft. Worth (Non-Stop: Believe It Or Not)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought I wouldn’t count this trip as part of my book tour,  because one problem after another seemed to dictate no schedule of talks or book signings.  I was disappointed and frustrated.  Call them again!  Push harder!  Insist! Then it came to me: Four days and nights–lodged unexpectedly in among several book signings at home and more, on the road again, starting at the end of the month–a break!  a rest! Four days and nights full of family and morning coffee on the patio and catching up on New Yorkers.  Four days and nights free of marketing.

My cousin, Jane, who was my Relentless Editor on Looking for Lydia; Looking for God, long before I ever submitted the manuscript for publication, is my host.  She lives in the older section of a quiet, family-friendly neighborhood, next door to her daughter, Grace, Grace’s husband, Jeff, and their daughter, Malena.  Jane, Grace, and Malena met my plane yesterday.

 

I haven’t seen Jane’s daughters, Grace and Elizabeth, in over twenty years, and I have, of course, never met their children, Malena, Caleb, and Carter, who are-respectively-twelve, ten, and six.

I have now met Jane’s shy cat, Miss Evie, who came to sit in my lap; her rescue dog, Peaches; Malena’s black cat, Sara; and their chihuahuas, Ginger and Jazzy.  I am comfortable here in this world full of animals and children.

 

And, of course, I am working:

I am writing this blog and drafting a few others for the Sundays ahead when I’ll be in Michigan and then in Kentucky: so far, I have started a blog on grief with a friend; have set up a guest blog on forgiveness; and  completed, around midnight, the final work on the monthly Classic Movie blog which is published, as scheduled, on this first Wednesday of the month.

I am about to publish this report from Texas.

I am still “paying it forward” and doing editing jobs for a friend’s son on the long essay that will accompany his application to graduate school, and for a cousin who has written what he calls an “inter dimensional romance.”  Both of these jobs involve a good deal of conversation via Track Changes and telephone.

I will complete a long handout for a four-week class I am leading in November on John’s Gospel and getting that off to the Director of Christian Formation to make copies.

I will be outlining my presentations for several venues in both Grand Rapids and Louisville, making the significant changes in focus now that I am no longer on home turf with the obvious local connection.

Yesterday, I participated in a one-hour conference call with a remarkable professional marketing consultant.  I have spoken with Shari Stauch before and already knew she was the best.  I posted a blog here on August 6 about my first consultation with her.  She covered a staggering amount of material in our call yesterday, and my head was reeling when we hung up.  But, the magic is that she sent me a tape of the entire conversation and I can go back and take my old-fashioned notes a bit at a time.  This is a wise woman.

And I hope to at least be dropping off copies of Looking for Lydia at the Mansfield Public Library, looking ahead to their book clubs’ 2016 scheduling. 

 

Three generations of great women. 

And a couple of very fine boys!

Today I will spend time with my cousin, Malena, while she shows me some tricks she’s learned on YouTube.  There seems to be no end to what I don’t know about the Internet.  This, I’m hoping, will just be for fun.

The icing on today’s cake will be the icing on today’s cake.  My twelve-year-old cousin is a baker. I am promised a custom-made “Aunt Dean” cake,  and I don’t have to share!!