Louisiana Revisited

Good morning, everyone! I'm back in Dallas and happy to say, back in my own bed. My back may never be the same. Here's a brief look at my fast trip to Louisiana.

Thursday evening - drove to my parent's house in Mineola. It's about an hour and 45 minute drive. It rained bugs on the way. Why does it always rain bugs in the country????

Friday morning - got up bright and early, had breakfast with parents and we all headed out to Louisiana. Mom and I in my car - dad in his truck. He wanted to buy shrimp while we were down south, hence the need for two vehicles.

Friday 1:00 - drove 4 1/2 hours to arrive in Lousiana. Hotel room is not ready, so we decide to pay a visit to my aunt and uncle. Just when we are thinking about grabbing some lunch, my uncle (who is 75) decides it would be a fine idea to ride a bicycle and walk a dog - at the same time. Do I even have to tell you where this one is going?????? You got it - straight to the emergency room. One broken nose later, uncle was back home, me and the parents had eaten the last dregs of the Mr. Gatti's buffet and mom and I were on our way for errands. Visited Sulphur library (town I grew up in) and I donated a couple of copies of Rumble. Went by Wal-Mart - they were sold out of Rumble (Yeah!) Went to Lake Charles to mall and signed the one copy of Rumble they had in stock - had sold the rest (Yeah again!). Went by another Walmart, found four copies left out of ten, my mom bought two. She keeps remembering people she needs to send book to.

Friday night - met my best friend from elementary through college and her husband for dinner and catching up. Essentially, the same people who were snotty when we were in school are now snotty adults with snotty kids. The people who were raising hell when we were kids are still raising hell, but now without the benefits of being minors.

Saturday morning - had breakfast, met family to pick up local newspapers from when they ran feature about me and book, got ready and headed to booksigning. According to what other authors tell me about sales at booksignings, I had a pretty good event (sold 23 copies), but Good God, do you have any idea how boring it is to sit there while strangers try to figure out how to walk by your table and avoid eye contact??????

Finish booksigning and load up car, eat lunch, change into sweats and get on the road again. Arrive Mineola about 8:00 pm. Spend night with parents so I don't have to drive in dark with raining bugs. Leave early next morning and head home to Dallas where I collapse in my chair/ottoman. Made sure I did nothing - I mean absolutely nothing that remotely related to writing for the rest of the day. :)