I just completed the first leg of my book tour. It was wonderful and exhausting and enormously memorable. I suspect I’ll forget the horrendous travel, the layovers that lasted 6 hours, and the swollen feet and tired legs. But I will never forget the incredible people I was privileged to meet. From Cincinnati, to Chicago, to Milwaukee, to Wichita and to Augusta, I had the opportunity to talk with book lovers and share life experiences and our love of the written word.  Though I don’t yet have all the photos from the events, I wanted to post the ones I do have. I also wanted to say a big fat THANK YOU to everyone who made me feel so welcome. You are friends, and I thank you for your many kindnesses.

I had a joyous time at Watermark Books in Wichita. All the attendees were terrific. Here is a picture of me with a group of women I’ve been Tweeting with for quite some time. Oh, were they ever fun! From left to right: Terri, Jennifer, Deena, Beth (me), Dani, Deb, and Pam.

My dear friends Marie and Don (shown in the photo below) drove for over 1 1/2 hours to come see me at the Next Chapter Book Shop in Mequon, Wisconsin, and a new friend, Mary (a terrific book blogger I met online) came with her daughter, as did a lovely writer friend, Christi Craig.

The event at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati was a big hit, and it made me so happy to look out into the audience and see so many friends.

My sweet friends (Lynn shown on the left and Margaret on the right) came to see me at Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville. We really made a great memory. There was a wonderful group of women from a Chicago book club that came to Naperville too, and I’ll put up those pictures if they send them.

And lastly, for those of you who know my love for historic buildings and my former career in interior design, this is a photo of the lobby at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee. It’s beyond fabulous!