Does this book tour make my butt look big?

I sat down yesterday with my calendar to find a date that might work for a short road trip with my gentleman friend.

It soon dawned on me that my schedule is jam-packed with author-related travel in the coming month.

Then it dawned on me that I probably ought to let readers know about it in case you'd like to attend any of the events. That seems like a better idea than dragging strangers into the venue by their hair and tickling them until they either pee or agree to stick around and listen to me talk.

A few months ago, I was asked to be part of something called The Crazy Eights Author Tour. Actually, I saw the word "crazy" and said "I'm in" before I had any idea what I was being asked to do. For those who care about the details, here's a blurb for the tour:

The Crazy 8s Author Tour is the brainchild of author George Wright. His idea? A group of Oregon writers will celebrate the written word throughout the state. The result? 8 Towns, 8 Bookstores, 8 Events, and 28 amazing authors.

Did you see that? They called me amazing. Well, not just me. I guess there are other authors involved, including:

• Alison Clement
• Anne Jennings Paris
• April Henry
• Barbara Roberts
• Bill Cameron
• Brian Doyle
• Eliot Treichel
• Ellen Waterston
• George Byron Wright, 
• Gina Ochsner
• James Bernard Frost
• Jane Kirkpatrick
• Karen Spears Zacharias
• Lauren Kessler
• Linda Crew
• Molly Gloss
• Naseem Rakha
• Phillip Margolin
• R. Gregory Nokes
• Robert Dugoni
• Robin Cody
• Ron Lovell
• Ruth Tenzer Feldman
• Sarahlee Lawrence
• Sid Miller
• Tawna Fenske
• Ursula K. Le Guin
• William L. Sullivan

We aren't all going to be in the same place at the same time, which is unfortunate since I'd love to just follow Bill Cameron all over the state in hopes of having some of his awesomeness rub off on me.

Note to self: When sharing your fondness for male authors, try to avoid using the phrase "rub off on me."

So back to the tour.

Here are the dates and locations I'll be visiting:

Betty’s Books in Baker City, Sept. 14


The Crazy 8s Author Tour opens at Betty’s Books in historic Baker City, Oregon. Appearing will be Ruth Tenzer Feldman, Tawna Fenske, Gina Ochsner, Anne Jennings Paris, Eliot Treichel, Ellen Waterston, Karen Spears Zacharias, Anna Keesey, and George Byron Wright.

Cannon Beach Book Company, Sept. 22

With Haystack Rock as our backdrop, we visit the Cannon Beach Book Company, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2010. Appearing will be Ruth Tenzer Feldman, Tawna Fenske, James Bernard Frost, Lauren Kessler, Sid Miller, Barbara Roberts, Karen Spears Zacharias, R. Gregory Nokes, and George Byron Wright. 

Paulina Springs Books in Redmond, Sept. 28

 

Stop number three on the Crazy 8s Author Tour is in lovely Central Oregon at Paulina Springs Books in Redmond. Appearing will be Ruth Tenzer Feldman, Tawna Fenske, Sarahlee Lawrence, Naseem Rakha, Anna Keesey, Ellen Waterston, Karen Spears Zacharias and George Byron Wright.


If you live near one of those areas, I'd love it if you came out and said hello. Or if you don't live in one of those areas but you feel like flying across the country so we can have a pillow fight and braid each other's hair after the event, that's cool, too.

Either way, it should be lots of fun.

And, um....kind of exhausting. I'm looking at about  24 hours of round-trip driving between those three sites. Anyone want to volunteer to be my chauffeur?