Q and A with Barbara TOURING: Realities of touring and future appearances

What is touring like?

Touring is tough. Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing glamorous about it. It is grueling and lonely. An example? Several years back, I was on tour for a week. Smack in the middle of that week, I awoke at 4:30am in Cincinnati to take an early flight to St. Louis, where I was met at the airport by a media escort, who preceded to take me to 15 different bookstores to sign stock (anywhere from 25 to 100 books of mine that they had on hand). We landed at a final bookstore at 7pm for a speech and signing (only eight people came), then I was dropped back at the airport at 8:30pm for a 9:30 flight to Minneapolis that didn't take off until 2am because of thunderstorms in the east delaying all the planes. I checked into my hotel room in Minneapolis at 5am, caught two hours' sleep, then had to get up for a 9am television appearance. Ah, but the joy (I'm being facetious, here) didn't end there. From Minneapolis I flew on to Los Angeles. I had begged my publisher not to send me there. I would be arriving late Thursday of the Fourth of July weekend, with the only booking a Friday evening signing at a chain bookstore in Thousand Oaks. Had the signing been canceled, I might have returned home Thursday night. Instead, I would be arriving home Saturday night, on the Fourth itself. My publisher insisted that I go, claiming that the bookstore had already done publicity. In fact, that publicity consisted of a flyer in the store window. Four people stopped by (coincidentally, and not by design). None bought books. Was this the best use of my time? Mind you, I love meeting my readers. If there had been twenty or thirty of them at that store in California, I would have felt satisfied. There are those who say that an author owes it to her fans to do signings. I disagree. I owe my fans the best book possible. For me to deliver that means time here at home, nurturing time with family and friends, leisurely time by myself, quiet time to write. Touring is the exact opposite of all that.

Where have you visited when on tour?

I've been all over New England. I've been to New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington DC. I've been to Charlotte, Atlanta, Charleston, and Mobile. I've been to Miami and West Palm Beach. I've been to Houston and Dallas, St. Louis, Kansas City. I've been to Denver. I've been to Cleveland, Detroit, Cincinnati, Minneapolis. I've been to Seattle and San Francisco. I've toured through England, taking the train out of London each day to visit towns like Coventry, Sheffield, Liverpool, and Hull. I've been to the International Book Fair in Germany, and once even did a Readers' Party in Italy!

Do you have any future touring scheduled?

I toured for the publication of Family Tree in February 2007, but there was no formal tour planned for The Secret Between Us in January 2008. Periodically, though, I give speeches, do radio or TV interviews, and take part in individual signings. I’ll post these dates on the events page, allowing as much time as possible for you to try to attend.