Tour Day 33, 34, and 35

Miles driven so far: 6887
Bookstores visited so far: 332
Books signed so far: 2872
Books hand sold so far: 178
Bookstores remaining: 168

I'm currently in Maryland, staying with writer friend Wayne Thomas Batson, author of the Door Within trilogy, a YA fantasy series that's a cross between Aragon and CS Lewis. Wayne a great guy, and we visited bookstores throughout the state yesterday.

Prior to that, I was in PA and NY hitting as many stores as I could.

So far, this tour has gone off without any major problems, and I feel as if I'm doing a lot of good. I'm finding it hard to stay connected with people, however. Sometimes I go without internet access for a few days at a stretch, and recently Outlook Express crashed on me, which caused my computer to send dozens of the same emails to the same few people, and reject many others. If you're having problems getting in touch with me, I promise that I'm not ignoring you---wifi simply hates me.

This tour is taking a bit longer than my original plan, and as a result I'm a few days behind schedule according to the dates I posted on my website. If you are planning to meet me somewhere on the road, or were planning to meet me and we missed each other, I apologize. That apology extends to the bookstores I've intended to visit---sometimes I may be late, or may even have to skip a store or two, depending on how things are rolling. Keep in mind that I'm trying my best.

Which brings me to some bad news/good news.

The bad news is that I won't be visiting California on this tour, as I'd anticipated. My lovely wife and darling children were supposed to meet me in Florida for a few days of R & R, then I'd fly to San Diego and they'd take the Rustymobile back home. That isn't going to happen. Due to booming business my wife isn't able to get away from work for a week. My deepest regrets to my friends on the West Coast.

But since I'm forced to take the Rustymobile home, I'll be adding some states to the tour. In the latter part of August I'll be visiting Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri (including St. Louis.)

If anyone knows any must-visit bookstores in these states, post them on this blog and I'll do my darnedest to fit them in.

Does this mean I won't reach 500? Hardly.

I'm at 332 stores now, and today will be visiting DC. Then I'll be in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, plus the states I mentioned above.

Florida alone has close to a hundred bookstores in it. Plus I haven't hit my hometown yet. Chicago and the suburbs have close to a hundred bookstores as well.

I will reach, and probably surpass, my original goal. The Rusty Nail 600, perhaps?

I'd like to thank everyone who has been offering encouragement and support and this tour. I've received many calls and emails from writers and fans, and they mean a lot. Really.

If you haven't read the Huffington Post lately, there's a nice article about the bookstore vs. blogosphere competition MJ Rose and I are having. If you haven't linked to MJ's vidlit yet, you need to do so. Also, buy her new book, The Venus Fix--it's a stunner.

If you're looking for signed JA Konrath books, look to these stores:

Chester County Book and Music Company West Chester PA

Borders Express Cherry Hill NJ

BN Marlton NJ

Borders Marlton NJ

BN Langhorne PA

Borders Wilmington DE

Borders Langhorne PA

Walden Bensalem PA

Borders Mt. Laurel NJ

BE Moorestown NJ

BN Wilmington DE

Borders Ft. Lee NJ

Borders Wayne NJ

Borders Livingston NJ

BN Edgewater NJ

BN Clifton NJ

BN Livingston NJ

BN Clark NJ

BN Springfield NJ

Borders Watchung NJ

BN Bridgewater NJ

Walden Trenton NJ

Borders Princeton NJ

BN Princeton NJ

BN Hackensack NJ

Borders Express Baltimore MD

Borders Timonium MD

Borders Express Glen Burnie MD

Borders Express Owings Mills MD

Borders Columbia MD

BN Baltimore MD

BN Towson MD

BN White Marsh MD

BN Ellicott City MD

Walden 200 Pratt Baltimore MD

Walden Eastpoint Mall Baltimore MD

Walden Glen Burnie MD

Walden Towson MD

And now, back to the road...

Tour Day 30, 31, and 32

Miles driven so far: 6289
Bookstores visited so far: 291
Books signed so far: 2548
Books hand sold so far: 169
Bookstores remaining: 209

Rustymobile stories:

• Barry Eisler, while driving the Rustymobile through NY, was unimpressed with the less-than-responsive acceleration of my Suzuki Sidekick. To quote Barry: "What have you got under the hood, a sewing machine?" I responded that it got 32 stitches to the gallon. Then I began to sing the Welcome Back Kotter theme when we entered Brooklyn, which annoyed him to no end.

• In West Haven Connecticut I got a flat tire. The culprit was a screw. I'm not sure how a screw, lying on the road, can pierce a steel belted radial, but this one did. I removed it with, you guessed it, a screwdriver, then did the rubber patch/fix a flat thing.

• The Rustymobile's air conditioning is functioning in this heat wave, but the leak is producing large amounts of water. I had to buy a bigger bucket to catch the dripping on the passenger side.

• I was almost hit by a truck the other day. It was entirely the other driver's fault. I was eating a sandwich, talking on the phone, programming my GPS, and I'd drifted into his lane and he didn't honk his horn fast enough. Some people shouldn't be allowed on the road.

• I locked my keys in my car at a gas station. Since I only have one key, I always check my pockets before I lock the doors. In this case, I was getting rid of some accumlated garbage and left my keys on the front seat, then slammed the door without thinking. Luckily, the window was open a centimeter. I taped together some gas station straws and made the end into a hook, then fished the keys off the seat. My wife told me that I was really clever, but a clever man wouldn't have locked his keys in the car in the first place.

• The aforementioned Barry Eisler, disgusted at how filthy my windshield was, finally pulled into a gas station to clean it himself. True to form, he did a great job, and made it seem like natural causes. Welcome back, Barry!

• I stayed overnight at the lovely and talented Jackie Kessler's house, and we tag-teamed a few stores. (Jackie writes paranormal romance, and her new book, Hell's Belles, comes out next year. Check out her new website.) The Rustymobile has a tiny quirk where the passenger side door doesn't lock unless you lift the handle while closing it. Between this, and the water dripping between her feet from the air conditioning, Jackie sweetly said in reference to the Rustymobile, "I really like those signs your publisher made for you."

For those interested, I'll be on World Talk Radio Writer's Roundtable today from 12pm until 2pm Eastern. Click on the above link to listen live, or visit it later to hear it in the archives. James Rollins will also be on with me.

For those looking to buy signed copies of my books, here's where I've been lately:

Borders North Attleboro MA

Borders Express North Attleboror MA

BN Warwick NY

BN Middletown RI

The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza Albany NY

Borders Albany NY

Borders Clifton Park NY

BN Albany NY

BN Schenectady NY

Walden Albany NY

Walden Latham NY

Borders Express Schenectady NY

Borders Saratoga Springs NY

BN Saratoga Springs NY

Walden Warwick RI

BN Dartmouth MA

BN East Walpole MA

Walden Saratoga Springa NY

BN Bellingham MA

BN Holyoke MA

BN Pittsfield MA

BN Kingston NY

Walden Kingston NY

Walden Paramus NJ

BN Pughkeepsie NY

Borders Poughkeepsie NY

BN Newbury NY

Borders Ramsey NJ

Borders 230 Garden State Plaza Paramus NJ

Borders Rt 17 Paramus NJ

BN Paramus NJ

Also, the other night I had dinner with the very funny mystery writer Tom Schreck, who just signed a two book deal. He paid for dinner, so I urge everyone reading this to buy his Amazon.com Short stories. Click here for the latest. It's funny. You'll like it. And it's only 49 cents.