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What I’ve learned on my nationwide book tour…
Whether it be a flash of insight, a sparked smile, a glinted eye, a cherished handshake or even a hug — people never cease to surprise me….
I intend to publish this reflection today as I write on a Sunday, the same day of the week months ago I found myself traipsing the streets of some other esoteric town, supposedly the “Danish Capital Of America.” It was a clean, neat, and self-contained little place tucked away in Santa Barbara County. The day prior, I was there on business; I was signing copies of my bestselling historical fantasy series (Stories of Shadow and Flame) at one of the many dozens of bookstores along my (ongoing) 2024 Trilogy Tour.
This little village was just one stop among so many that I’d encountered. So why do I bring it up? Why would I care to talk about a small Danish-American village’s independent bookstore in the middle of a mountainous trek of months of big cities, thousands of people and miles and books? Was my signing at the historic “Book Loft” in Solvang any more special than my previous signings? Bigger than some of my latter signings? Stranger? Nope. Nope. And nope.
There was nothing — and I did nothing — bigger, stranger, or more successful in downtown Solvang than I ever did in the likes of Los Angeles, San Jose, Boston, Philadelphia, San Diego, New York, or anywhere else I’d been on…
