The Pear Fair may well be my favorite book selling experience to date. It was so much fun to have my own booth (you can see a bit of it here--my little assistant definitely helped attract passersby!) Several people who stopped to chat had heard me (and Asher, crying in the background) on the radio last week, and seemed excited about having a book set in their area. What a pleasure to be back there, in the land of my characters (and the real people who helped me so much during the research process. Thank you again, Tim and Laura, for all of your kindness--and all of your pears!) I sold out of books about halfway into the festival--I should have brought more, but it was also cool to be able to walk around and enjoy the fair with Michael and Asher (who, you can see, was handed his first balloon. He loved it so much. It seemed to love him, too--that night, after he fell asleep, the balloon hovered directly above him, as if protecting him or waiting for him to wake up and play.) The day was beautiful--not at all the oven we had anticipated; we had a blast eating pear tamales and drinking pear aguas frescas and even taking a little pear portrait-painting class. Even the seven hour car trip, which I had feared with a baby, was fun (especially because I had apricot pie a la mode for lunch in apricot country on the drive home!)

I really want to find more alternative book selling venues like this. I'm excited about my event this Saturday, July 31 at the Lincoln Memorial Shrine in Redlands at 1pm. Just as I researched Delta Girls at the Pear Fair, I researched My Life with the Lincolns at the Lincoln Shrine, and it will be lovely to return there with the published book and be surrounded by Lincoln ephemera (including some of Abe's hair!) as I read and share my little power point.

Just a reminder...I will also be at more traditional--and deeply beloved--venues next week: the Riverside Public Library on Thursday, August 5 at 7pm (as part of Arts Walk) and the fabulous Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena on Friday, August 6 at 7pm. Oh, and I'll be shaking my postpartum belly at the Orange County Fair tomorrow, Friday, July 30, at 4pm with Saahira's Gypsy Soul troupe. :) I'd love to see you at any of these events!

We're on our way to the Delta! I'm so excited to be able to walk the paths of my characters again (we'll even be staying at a hotel where the characters stay!) and to see the pear farmers who were so generous with their time and information as I researched Delta Girls.

If you're in the area, I'll be reading at Avid Reader Bookstore in Sacramento on Saturday, July 24 at 2pm and will have my own little booth at the Pear Fair in Courtland on July 25 from 9am-6pm (assuming we last that long in the heat; we may just put up our shingle for part of the day. I am eager to be surrounded by pears again!)

A few more links:

--A feature article about me at The Press-Enterprise

--My fantasy casting for My Life with the Lincolns over at My Book, The Movie (this was a lot of fun to do.)

--My recent interview with Book Bites for Kids is now archived and can be listened to here.

An aside: Asher is teething (his top four teeth are coming in) so none of us have had much sleep lately. A few nights ago, I had a series of sleep-deprivation-fueled lucid dreams where I was convinced that Asher's real crying and nursing were somehow being used to promote my books. It all made perfect sense in my weird awake dreaming state (and in these dreams, my cousin Bobby--who owns a wonderful book store and was just in town for a truly fabulous family reunion, which I hope to write about soon--told me that this technique is usually just used for vampire books like Twilight, but I should give it a try.) I wish that the nighttime crying/nursing cycle could actually be used for such positive purposes! In the meantime, I will continue to blearily post book promotion-related links here.

Popping my head in to share a few links:

Great reviews of My Life with the Lincolns over at The Trades (which gives it an A+!) and Readergirlz, and a lovely review of Delta Girls at BookLoons.

Also, did Delta Girls pass the p. 69 test? Click here to find out. :)

I share a few thoughts about pear (and pear eau de vie) imagery in Delta Girls over at Dory Adams' wonderful blog, In This Light: A Weekly Blog of Images and Narrative. Be sure to take time to peruse her site--it's full of lovely photography and writing.

Three happy things to share re. Delta Girls today:

--Delta Girls was named a "Best New Paperback" by Entertainment Weekly. I am beyond thrilled about this. I've only seen a pdf of the article, and look forward to seeing it in real life--there's a big photo of my book cover on the top of the page.

--January Magazine gave Delta Girls a review that makes my heart flutter.

--The wonderful Tricia O'Brien interviewed me for her always thoughtful and engaging blog, Talespinning (you can win a copy of the book if you comment there!)

I know it's important to look within for a source of happiness, but sometimes having some external validation really helps. Just walking down the street with Asher in the stroller earlier today, I felt different, lighter, due to these lovely affirmations for the book. Thank you to everyone who has already embraced Delta Girls, and thank you to those who are considering reading it now.