Book Nerds Romp and Raise a Ruckus
I needed a vacation. I’ve been needing one for quite sometime, but it took a bit of time, planning, impromptu not planning, and selfishness to make it happen.
I went to Dallas for a few days, with the nervous approval of my husband, left my daughter with my mother; where I ate, drank, and was merry. And got a tattoo.
The tattoo occurred toward the end, but was the plan from the beginning.
It went a bit like this…
We didn’t book a hotel. It’s Dallas. It was Tuesday. We thought we’d find one. And we did. About ten hotels later. Note to self, book a hotel no matter how silly your destination. I truly never believed this until this trip. I very much enjoyed the fact that in the last ten years, if I wanted a hotel and was somewhere, I just arrived and walked in. Then again, I haven’t gotten out much in the last ten years.
Post Hotel Finding: My old college chums and my best friend since high school all crashed into one group and found ourselves at Goodfriend, a bar and grill with amazing fried pickles and ghost ranch, on the first evening. There I discovered what I shall now always call fancy whiskey, although it’s actually a Classic Whiskey Sour. This is not your Chili’s or dive bar Whiskey with sweet and sour – this involves egg whites and shaking and frothy latte like smoothness and basically heaven in a cup of whiskey. This is also where we discovered that there was whiskey in the water. Not literally, we just found it very easy to become happily plastered there. Props to Matt, the owner, who is amazing. And to the bartender who got me hooked on those Classic Whiskey Sours.
Moving on… The Double Wide. Yes, that is the name of a bar. Complete with toilet bowls serving as planters that provide extra seating. I laughed, I cried, I was in a ridiculous bar with an appropriately fitting name, and strange men trying to talk to my friends who handled them much better than I would. My response would have been “Go AWAY.” But my friends are way more classy than I am and found themselves saying, “It’s been nice talking to you, but you’re crashing girls night.”
Wednesday, we got pedicures and ate Mexican food. Margaritas, bookstores (The Lucky Dog), lots of coffee, a Ton’s Mongolian Grill Reunion dinner at 7:30 with even more college chums. More bars – Bowen House (way overpriced but I got some more whiskey in) and The Ginger Man (fun beer). It was good to see old friends.
Thursday morning involved Cultivar Coffee and the most delicious vanilla latte I ever had. There was a little hole in the wall taco joint across from it on Peavy called El Ranchito. If I lived in that neighborhood, that’s where all my money would be going… to $1.50 homemade breakfast tacos.
And finally, some shopping, lunch and coffee, another bar visit (The Libertine) where I refrained because I was about to get inked, I found myself at Death and Glory Tattoo. Where a very personable guy named Cole Alexander Davis was able to put Jane Austen’s words and handwriting on my arm forever.
“I am half agony, half hope.”
It was a shockingly cozy experience. My last tattoo happened in a place that felt very clinical to me. The guy was nice, but I don’t remember his name. Here, I realized why people find the practice so addicting. It’s like finding a bar you love, or a coffeehouse you can’t live without. It’s not just about the finished product, or the drinks being made properly, it is very much about ambiance and whether or not you have managed to find a place that seems like home away from home. They have a delightful front porch and a cat that lurked but didn’t touch me. I could have stayed there for hours after, but we had more drinking to do.
One of the guys there said that people tend to tell them their whole life story. They know everyone’s business because they are sort of treated like bartenders and shrinks. I can see that. I was too awkward to take advantage of that ambiance, but I definitely loved it.
My lovely JJ got a tattoo with me. It is also a literary reference to a poem that was read at her wedding. “And then this moment…” This is us, back at Goodfriend, being incandescently happy.
Friday… we had more tacos and Cultivar. We visited the Black Forest Cafe and the Flagship Half Price Books. We drove the many miles home, mostly listening to oldies.
Thanks for my trip, Danielle. I know it was stressful, but it was also lovely.
Texas Tour Interview with S. Smith
1. You came to Texas for the first time for an Earth Day celebration book signing tour. Let’s recap, what stores and schools did you visit?
Bookstores:
Good Books in the Woods, Spring TX
Half Price Books in Houston at these locations:
Clear Lake
Humble
Montrose
Half Price Books in San Antonio at these locations:
Broadway
North Central
Huebner
Bandera
Half Price Books Austin area:
Round Rock
South Lamar
Southpark Meadows
North Lamar
Half Price Books in Dallas area:
Lewisville
Mesquite
Flagship (hpb.com/001)
Schools:
Claughton Middle School in Houston
Austin Jewish Academy in Austin
2. Did you meet any memorable customers you’d like to send a shout out to?
Oh my gosh—so many! The young woman from Spain studying in the futures program, sorry I can’t remember the name of the program and don’t know if I got hers. What a long, great conversation. There was Rob who was interested in knowing more about publishing. Marie Senter, “Viva la Fiesta!” in San Antonio who blessed me with my own pair of cowboy boot earrings. Lots of excited and, alternately, very shy kids. I met kindred spirits in the food movement who were very encouraging about the theme of my books. Answering these questions is helping me remember all the good times. 🙂
3. Where did you visit when you weren’t at bookstores and schools?
Unfortunately, my husband and I did not get to do too much touristy stuff, but we got in a little. Of course, first, I got to meet my number one fan in Texas and her family, and visit her woods—you! We also got to visit Old Spring. In San Antonio we ran into a spring festival called Fiesta that we hadn’t a clue was happening! We also were staying in an old part of town with historic homes, many included on the “walking tour.” We met the owner of one of those homes (shout out to Victoria!), who gave us an inside tour of the home. I also got to have dinner with an old friend of mine that I hadn’t seen in 30 years! And of course we did the Riverwalk and had dinner there the first night. Unfortunately, in Austin and Dallas it was just busy, busy, busy. On the way home we got in a quick visit to Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico and the Grand Canyon. We were sort of on a deadline to get back.
4. Do you have a favorite city or region, now that you’ve been here?
I think we both enjoyed San Antonio the most. But it might have been because we were staying at a very good location. Close to downtown and in a cool, older neighborhood.
5. Did you learn anything new on your tour?
Sure. I learned how cool Half Price Books bookstores are, for one. Besides books, records, etc., they have lots of very nice stationery products which I am a sucker for. I also learned what the sky looks like when it’s full of dust. I got to see a lot of new terrain. We drove through Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, and a touch of Utah. Some of those were for the first time. And the Hoover dam is huge.
6. Did you try any new foods?
No, I don’t think so. Unless you count McDonald’s Bacon Clubhouse Burger. Although there were a different kind of beans being served with the Mexican meals than we usually have here. Charro beans?
8. Your trip ran into the Easter weekend. How did celebrating Easter on the road differ than how you celebrate it at home?
Normally at home we would go to church in the morning and in the afternoon my family would get together, have a traditional meal where I would bring my homemade egg noodles, my sister-in-law would bring her fried rice, and five or six layer jello, my sister would bring her green or pink creamy salads, mom a pie or two, and whoever is hosting filling in with the rest (ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetable, more pies…). Then the kids would do an Easter egg hunt until nobody wanted to hunt anymore and everyone wanted to hide the eggs. Sometimes we use plastic eggs, but I like to use the real boiled and colored ones. It would be a lot like the scene in Heirloom where it is Easter. This year we drove from Houston to San Antonio on Easter. We managed to get to a church service late and then we were offered some food that they had eaten in the morning before the service. Since we were on the road we ate some. So I had two tamales and an orange for Easter noon dinner this year. But I guess the Riverwalk dinner at night was also on Easter. It just didn’t seem like Easter, but periodically someone would wish us a happy Easter.
9. What would you tell non-Texans to expect from a visit to Texas?
It’s hot, there are a lot of big roads around the major cities, lots of Texas flags flying, Houston people drive too fast, but folks are friendly.
10. In the third installment of the series, the story takes readers to Florida. Do you see a Florida trip in your future?
Well, I have been to Florida, just not out and about much. A reader in Florida recently invited me down, so you never know….:)
Even if you missed the tour, don’t miss out on the books:
Log Off and Smell the Lattes
The phrase used to be ‘stop and smell the roses,’ I don’t know that it’s an entirely accurate turn of phrase anymore.
I am a busy lady with lots of activities, but mostly I’m busy on the internet. I have my personal accounts, and most things started out as hobbies, but somewhere along the way all my hobbies turned into jobs – and most these jobs include manning facebook, twitter, pinterest, and a whole host of other social media. Not just for me and my writing career, but for my art company, bookstores, and, well, everyone.
Because I do all this from an actual computer, because I don’t have what I call a ‘fancy’ phone or any kind of ‘spectacular device’ (smartphone, ipads, and whatever other twenty-first century gadgets the world has at their fingertips these days), when I go on vacation, or even a business trip, I get a true break from everything.
I had a book signing in Dallas this past weekend. Which means from the time I got into my car to drive the four hour trek to the time I pulled back into my driveway 72 hours later, I was on internet silence. No facebook to log into. I didn’t have a chance to or even a reminder to tweet anything. My blog became an afterthought; and everything of the cyberspace variety went 100% on the back burner so that I could spend all my time with the real world – or ink and paper when I didn’t want to look beyond my nose.
And guess what?
It was marvelous.
Click the photo to see all the pictures from the HPB Preston Village book signing.
My afternoon at my signing was completely focused on my customers, my business partner, and the beautiful friends that came to visit and support me. I’ve seen many authors sit behind author tables and have no clue how to interact. Instead they spend precious moments when they could be chatting with fans, typing on smartphones or figuring out how to take credit cards. Being able to accept credit cards sure does make things simple for people – but my tech-free weekend kept all transactions cash only, and I have to say, it was nice.
Afterward, a group of us went off to a new restaurant in the Bishop Arts District of Dallas called Smoke. I highly recommend eating there for anyone who hasn’t tried it. The food was excellent, the service was great, and the place had a pretty stellar vibe. (By the way, the creme brule is to die for – and the best part is the candied ginger. ) Part of that vibe, I must say, was enhanced by the fact that we spent little to no time on our phones!
Instead, we discussed future events for Aoristos and myself, as well as books (both published and not yet published). To the right, my lovely friend Miss Golightly is taking a brief gander at the Follies Past by Melanie Ker while we wait for our dinner. (I’m still reading, but there will be a review posted soon! Austen fans, stay tuned!)
Time and time again I have gone to dinner with the far less considerate only to sit at a table and watch people facebook and text all their friends who aren’t present. It’s something I’ve never appreciated. So, although having a smart phone would make many of my events have a more solid online presence, I am not inclined to purchase one until I absolutely have to. I’m less interested in an online presence and more interested in being present. The online part can happen before and after, in my opinion.
After being stuffed to the gills with the most amazing barbecue I’ve had in a long time, I finished the day at my aunt and uncle’s house. It’s practically a bed and breakfast it is so cozy and relaxing. Homemade lattes were made, there was some time in the garden, and then afterward the kiddo and I slept here…
Clearly, this is after I mussed up the pillows. 
FYI, there’s a manlier room down the hall…
It was the best sleep I’ve had in a good long while. Probably helpful that my eyes hadn’t spent any evening time looking at a computer screen. (Not to mention, I was physically exhausted.)
Bright and early, and well rested, the next morning… I stepped out of my room to something that is nothing short of heaven to my soul:
Yes, that’s a coffee bar right outside the guest bedroom. Complete with bottled water for the Keurig, International Delight creamers (in hazelnut and french vanilla), sugar packets, and real mugs!
After helping myself to coffee, I took my journal and Melanie Kerr’s book and headed to the room one door down…
It was a beautiful morning. I did what I do every morning, sans computer screen blinking at me. That lack of a computer screen makes all the difference. And although computers are useful, and I adore my jobs and the freedom I have to raise my daughter while working mostly from home; once in awhile I need to remember that just because I’m sitting, doesn’t mean I need to be sitting with technology.
Log off… smell the lattes… breathe, relax, enjoy.
April Events 2014!
The month of April is full of Earth Day celebrations. More specifically, S. Smith, author of a dystopian young adult series that I can’t seem to rave enough about, has planned a trip to Texas from Oregon! I’m so excited!
She will also be at the Montrose HPB (hpb.com/011) on Saturday, April 19th, 6pm-9pm.
Then she’ll be making rounds in San Antonio, Austin, and finally Dallas! Check out her website for more details on events in those cities: http://authorssmith.com/book-news-and-events/
Also, although I am based out of Houston, this is a Dallas event that I support with all my heart and would love to attend if I were able:
Anakalian Whims 