On the road again...and again...and again

Folks, I've been on the road since March 6th. My family doesn't recognize my voice when I call. Dogs bark at me. I'm an outcast.

Yet quite comfortable in the Hampton Inn in Towanda, PA. Finishing up a job filming, then over to New Hope, PA, and the Saturday afternoon book signing at Moravian Book Shop.



So…there are a lot of CITGO stations around this middle part of Pennsylvania. I don't to mention any names, but isn't CITGO owned by a certain socialist state? A real one, I mean.

I wonder if some of the locals – the ones grumbling about creeping socialism in our country -- know that they're helping the real thing down south?

Wow, just back in from Charlottesville and the Virginia Festival of the book! It's been a jam-packed two weeks and, while I'm not sorry to be getting back to my regular life, I have enjoyed a lot of going around the country and visiting indie book stores.

I plan to profile some of these stores over the next few weeks, but for now, I'm gonna enjoy some nice weather and go jogging in the park.

New York Part 2

On Wednesday night I had a fun time at Mysterious Bookshop. This is a great store, with a huge selection of books, and I feel jealous of the New York writers who get to hang out there. They have a large room, floor-to-ceiling books, and a smart and helpful staff. Ian and Dan ran the event, and also shot a video that's on their site. We had a nice group of folks, and I hope to return someday with a new book. http://www.mysteriousbookshop.com

New York part 1

I had a blast, last night at Partners & Crime. A lot of friends, family, and good vibes all around. Kiz, one of the owners, worked hard alongside Dan to make sure the event went well. Kiz also gave good advice. ("Don't talk too long.")

Partners & Crime is what I love about indie book stores - open, friendly, a real neighborhood place. And they have great music on their sound system! Come visit them at 44 Greenwich Ave., New York, NY 10011

Tonight I'll be at Mysterious Bookshop, come on by!

I spent the weekend in Ohio, land of my birth, to sign copies of DRINK THE TEA and hook up with old friends.

My first stop was Foulplay Books in Westerville, Ohio. Toni and John were the perfect hosts in a splendid store -- the kind where I'd like to spend a few days, looking for treasure. Toni is a school teacher and John a retired nuclear engineer. They are ably assisted by two and sometimes three cats. We had a wonderful group of people, including my brother Pete, also a novelist, who drove from Cincinnati. And Tom Hayes, a filmmaker and comrade-in-arms showed up as well.

Then north to Cleveland, the best location in the nation, or so we were taught in public school. Jane Kessler owns Appletree Books in Cleveland Heights. She's also an old family friend and neighbor. We held the event down the street at Nighttown, a fantastic restaurant and jazz club. In fact, just a week ago John Pizzarelli, son of guitar legend Bucky Pizzarelli, performed there. And we have the same agent --Doug Grad! How strange is that?

But I digress.

The Cleveland event held between 50 and 60 people, all friends of my mom's. You know, when she started her blackmail business, I never realized how much help it could be for a debut author.

Jen Forbus came, it was great to meet her in person. Some favorite high school friends as well. And many family friends I hadn't seen in 15 or 20 years. Who knew writing a mystery novel would be the wing nut that kept our family and friends together?

I'm home for today, then off to New York tomorrow to sign at Partners & Crime on Tuesday and Mysterious Bookshop on Wednesday.

Publication. Going from a first draft to a finished book.

It's been a wild ride. And all leading up to this past Tuesday, March 2nd.

For the last year I've been getting ready for that day, for when my book comes out.

The stuff I had to learn to promote it, well, it's valuable but somehow, as a writer, I didn't think I would be doing it.

For instance, Borders has brick and mortar stores that are selling more romance novels than mysteries, so Borders nationally chose not to carry DRINK THE TEA.

Keith Gilman, a Philadelphia cop and a great writer, told me to go to individual Borders stores in my area, and get them to order the book on their own. Once it's in the system, any Borders store can get copies.

So here I am, working as a cameraman, meeting folks about films they want to make. Then, when the meeting is over, using my GPS to see if there's a Borders nearby where I can flog my book.

Ah, the glamor of it all.

Now, I have to say that, back when I started this racket, I was thinking how I would spend my millions. What type of car I'd drive. The width of my new swimming pool. What I hadn't thought about: standing a few feet in from the entrance of a Crystal City, Virginia Borders and greeting people as they walked in -- in fact, accosting them with my book. But that's just what I'll be doing in 10 days.

In this age of social media and mystery sites and blogs, some publicists advised me against going on a traditional book tour. "You could travel to a distant city and have only 2 people show up. Or no one at all."

True. But, as Steve Hamilton reminded me, the bookseller would be there. And that's the person I need to meet most. So as I plan my trip, and look forward to seeing old friends in familiar cities, I'm most looking forward to the folks who own the stores. Some of them I've met before, but this will be the first time I'll see them in their native habitat.

Somehow, this appeals to the documentarian in me.

So, the big question: should I take my camera and film the proceedings?

Money -- In New York, you can't give it away.

My favorite movie of all time is "Sullivan's Travels." Written and directed by the great Preston Sturges, this film traces the journeys of Sullivan, Hollywood's brightest and best director of comedies ("Hey-hey in the Hayloft," "Ants in Your Plants") as he goes underground, wearing rags, to explore the dark part of America that suffered most during the Great Depression.

Why does Sully leave his mansion, his power, his prestige? Because he wants to adapt a modern novel, "O, Brother, Where art Thou?" to the screen. (The Coen Brothers liked this title so much, they used it for their own Depression-era comedy).

I refuse to spoil the plot of "Sullivan's Travels" for those who haven't yet seen it (and do see it, as soon as you can). But there is a sequence I'd like to talk about: at then end of the second act, Sully has seen enough poverty to last a lifetime. He decides to get a stack of five dollar bills and distribute them personally to the needy. This decision has far-ranging consequences for Sully, but the thing that interests me is that the people he reaches out to – men, women, children – take the five-dollar gift with wonder and wide-eyed gratitude. Well, why not? Times were tough, and five dollars went a long way.

Last week my friend, New Yorker Joshua Krafchin, did something similar. Josh is no Hollywood director, but he is friends with Courtney Martin. Ms Martin, a writer, has her own ideas about creative philanthropy. Saturday night marked the fourth annual dance-crazed celebration of what Ms. Martin calls the Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy. The New York Times wrote about her (and Josh) yesterday: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/nyregion/09bigcity.html

Each year she gives a number of people $100 to give away as they see fit. Some exchanged the bills for pennies, distributing "lucky pennies" through the streets of New York. One left the entire $100 as a well-deserved tip. Another gave the stack of bills to a woman he saw who collects and recycle bottles and cans to make her way.

Josh did something different. He went on the subway, and begged people to take his money. You can see what happened here:



When I'm in New York, I ride the subway. It's fast, cheap, and gives me a certain superior feeling. (Hey, I may be an out-of-towner, but I know how to get around.) Occasionally someone will address the entire subway car. Usually this person is asking for something. The typical response: avoid eye contact, pretend the person doesn’t exist, get off at your stop as planned.

I'm not faulting New Yorkers. If this happened on a Washington, DC subway car, we'd probably all jump the person as a threat to national security.

But when Josh offers people money, very much like Sully in Preston Sturgess's film, the people avoid eye contact. They pretend Josh isn't there. They get off at their stops as planned.

Why? We're in a recession, right? Times are tough, right? Who couldn't use some extra cash?

Well, there are a couple of answers. One is, these people are so use to being accosted by strangers, they go into automatic ignore-mode when a stranger addresses the car, even though this stranger is giving away money, not asking for it.

Another reason: these people are going to work, or coming from work. They have jobs, for the most part. Perhaps they felt uneasy taking money when thee were others more needy.

Finally, they've seen con artist ply their trade before. What if taking the money obligated them to some kind of shell game where, ultimately, they'd be the losers?

"Well, I am exhausted," Josh said after getting turned down again and again. "I had no idea it was so hard to give away one hundred dollars."

Josh is a native New Yorker. "I've ridden the subways my whole life, and always wanted to do something to make them better but never did. Until now."

Have we lost something as Americans, that we can no longer see a free gift, let alone accept one? Are we that jaded, that guarded? Maybe we should take a lesson from the banks and insurance companies.

Josh adjusts his approach in the second half of the video and finally succeeds. I'm glad, because at the mid-point of the video, Josh acknowledges the only person who would take his money is the one holding the camera, whom Josh describes as a "starving novelist and fourth-rate cameraman."

Hmmm…must've been some other starving novelist fourth-rate cameraman.