Pot Thief Tour 2010 - Days 43-44

The next-to-last signing was at Bookworks in Albuquerque, a great independent bookstore in the North Valley next to a Flying Star Café, a popular chain in the Duke City. I showed up early to check in and told the staff I’d be next door eating dinner and would be back by the start of the 7 PM event.

Halfway through my meal, a lady approached me hesitantly and thrust out a copy of one of my books. “I’m terribly sorry to interrupt your meal,” she said, “but the people next door told me you were here. Would you sign this copy of your book I just bought?”

Of course I did so and thanked her for buying it. The people at nearby tables heard this exchange, and I think a few of them showed up at the event. This is the sort of personal touch you get only at Indie stores.

The final event was at Tome on the Range in Las Vegas (the one in New Mexico), another Indie store in the home of New Mexico Highlands University. The manager, Michael, introduced me, and it was obvious from his description of my books that he had read them. I did a talk and a reading. Then there were cookies made by a woman from El Salvador whose baked goods have made her an important part of the community.

We spent the next day in Carlsbad where we descended 750 feet below the surface of the earth to do the hour-and-a-half walk around the Big Room of Carlsbad Caverns. We had intended to stick around for the bat flight at sundown when the evening sky is darkened by the thousands of bats emerging to feed. No wonder there are no mosquitoes in Carlsbad. But I was tired after the walk and perhaps also feeling the effects of too many days on the road, so we made an early night of it.

Today I stopped in to say hello to Julie at Front Street Books in Alpine, Texas because she had ordered some books a couple of weeks ago during the tour, and I wanted to say thanks. Also, I like her and her store, and Alpine was a convenient stopover. To my surprise, she wanted more books, and I left the last ones I had with her on consignment. I guess that marks the true end of the Pot Thief Tour for 2010. I’ll post one more time – a summary of the whole thing - after I get home and have time to organize my thoughts.