What is it they always say, "The Truth Shall Set You Free"! I believe that with all my heart so hear is my book tour story and I'm sticking to it!
"This is the day that the Lord hath made, let my sorry self try to do good works", I said as I stumbled, bleary eyes and dragging tail as I shuffled to make some serious coffee this morning. You see I just got home from book tour. I have been waiting my whole life for something as great as this, writing my own book, getting it published, hitting the book tour trail. The experience has been life changing. I have never had more fun in my life. I also have never gone so long without good sleep, one pooped KAT!
You see this all began when my book, "The Pulpwood Queens' Tiara Wearing, Book Sharing Guide to Life" was published by Grand Central Publishing. They wanted me to hit the road for book tour right after the pub date of January 2, 2008. As I finished the last of my client's hair on New Year's Eve, (I own a hair salon/book store in Jefferson, Texas, Beauty and the Book), I realized that my dream of a book tour was about to come true! A bunch of the Pulpwood Queens, Timber Guys and I went out to celebrate the New Year at Music City Texas then New Year's Day I spent packing for what we called the "BIG, BLONDE, AND BEAUTIFUL BOOK TOUR"! I was going to be taking with me four of my book club members, Elizabeth Stokes of Palestine, Texas, Jean Wright of Linden, Texas, Kay Brookshire of Lake O' the Pines, Texas, and Joyce Smith, my neighbor here just outside of Jefferson. I dubbed then the Pulpwood Queen Posse'.
Our Timber Guys, husbands, were laughing their fool heads off as we crammed 24 assorted bags into the back of our recently acquired Suburban. Suburbans are called "Texas Cadillacs" here in Texas. I mean we were going to have to be on book tour for a month and a week for goodness sake. Who knew what the weather would be like as we traversed was it, ten states! As we pulled out of my driveway in Texas, there was no looking back. We were girlfriends on the ultimate book loving road trip! Kind of like Thelma and Louise and Joyce, Kay, Jean, Liz, and Kat!
Now there is no way I can cover the whole trip in this southern author blog! But here to me are some of the highlights of our trip broken down into the following categories; Riding the Roads, Bookstores, Authors, and Girlfriend Weekend!
Riding the Roads!
You want to know what fun is? Take a road trip with your girlfriends! What are you waiting for! Time is the essence! I have so many stories from the road it's not even funny. But one thing happened on the road that still cracks me up, ONE SMOKING GINA! At the very first of the trip, we were just riding along, just minding our business when we saw a PT Cruiser up ahead with "ONE SMOKING GINA" hand painted across the back of the car. Nobody said anything as I started to pass the car but we were all craning out necks to get a look see of the driver. As we pulled along side, this grey haired bun, wearing woman whips her head over to take a gander at us gawking girlfriends and I swear she had a cigarette dangling out of her mouth that she had just sucked a three inch ash that was about to fall off. We all just lost it as I go, "Yep, One Smoking Gina." We were all laughing so hard, choking and driving, I told the girls, "Look, look at that sign on the side of the Indian Nation Turnpike." There up ahead was this sign that stated, "DO NOT DRIVE INTO THE SMOKE". Well, by then we were just beside ourselves, laughing and crying. I go, "Looks like One Smoking Gina is known in these parts." Now if you have no idea what that sign really meant, I'll tell you in my next book as I am going to have to write a whole chapter on this girlfriend book touring Pulpwood Queen Posse".
Bookstores!
Years ago, Mary Gay Shipley, who owns and operates That Bookstore in Blytheville, Arkansas, my mentor, and I tried to put together a bookstore tour through the south. I cannot think of anything I would rather do than visit independent bookstores. Well, I hit as many as I could on this book tour and you can go to my official book tour blog site to view them all at www.pulpwoodqueen.com which has photos, stories, news features, and more that continues if not daily, pretty close. Each one could be a chapter in my new book but here's one story that cracks us up as we hit Mary Gay's store in Blytheville.
We arrived a little late as crosswinds had as hanging on for dear life as our Texas Cadillac careened down the interstate from St. Louis, Missouri to Blytheville. When we pulled in a parking spot just off the main street where Mary Gay's store is situated, the girls told me to run on so I wouldn't keep the crowd waiting. Later Pulpwood Queens Jean and Kay told me this story. Evidently after I ran to the store, 74 year old Pulpwood Queen Joyce Smith followed wearing my faux fur leopard coat, my leopard Fat Baby Cowboy boots as her bunion was killing her, she had on her "Go to Town" big hair and tiara pulling my leopard printed suitcase loaded with Raquel Welch Hair U Wear Put on Hair Pieces for the Big Hair Makeovers I was giving away to a lucky girlfriend at a drawing at each store. As she approached the bookstore pulling the rolling bag up the sidewalk, head bent down to tackle the blowing gales of wind, a young man approached her with a child up on his shoulders bundled for winter. "Ma'am, ma'am," he cried as he met her and took her arm, "is there someone I can call, there is not way you need to be out on the street in this weather.". The girls told me that the look Joyce gave him had to have been priceless. He thought she was a homeless woman and now Joyce is going to kill me for telling this story but what a story. We are still laughing about it!
Authors!
Now I know that my mission to promote literacy would have never come into fruition if it had not been for the wonderful, fantabulous authors that have graced our doors at Beauty and the Book. There stories have changed out lives and to have the authors come to our book club meetings and call our chapters brings the book to life when we feature a book each month. Several of those authors have become more like family to me. In fact, I have adopted them as my brothers and sisters. One in particular is Denise Hildreth from Franklin, Tennessee who we stayed with while in Nashville. Now this darling little spitfire of an author is a trip. As we sped through Nashville on a driving tour given by Denise she took us to the Parthenon. Yes, a complete recreation of the Parthenon in Greece. Who knew? Not me, as we sped going the wrong way into it's entrance. I calmly said, "Denise, aren't we going the wrong way on a one way entrance." She whipped her little S.U.V. in a U e, and we were parking before I could catch my breath. Denise may seem petite, demure in person but girl, get that author behind the wheel and a whole new personality comes out. She's a tiger!
Now you can view photos of Denise and the Pulpwood Queen Posse' at my blog site, www.pulpwoodqueen.com.
Another highlight was our stay with my brother, yes, I adopted this author as the perfect brother and he is, Michael Morris. His wife, Melanie also is adopted as the perfect sister and you all, did she spend all day fixing us up a feast. Now that day we began with a live television morning show in Atlanta, Texas, went on to Addison, Alabama where we did a morning television show, interviews for eight county newspapers, one blog spot, a fashion magazine interview, another spot for the evening news all with reporter, Theresa Shaddix who had just crowned herself Head Queen of a new Alabama chapter. Talk about a woman who is a tornado for promoting literacy. All hail Theresa Shaddix! Then we went on to Michael and Melanie Morris's house to stay. They greeted us with open arms and terrific wine and appetizers! God Bless Pulpwood Queen authors, they are the best. We quickly caught up and then headed on over to meet Jake Reiss, the owner of Alabama Booksmith in Birmingham, Alabama. What a bookstore and a splendid attendance including Rhonda on her pink scooter who I knew from Southern Living magazine. Again, those photos are posted at www.pulpwoodqueen.com so scroll down for the full story.
We all headed back to the Morris's for this incredible Martha Stewart presentation of a dinner and gorged on her fine cuisine. I looked across the table after the meal barely being able to keep my eyes open and spied Pulpwood Queen Jean Wright nodding off at the table. We begged forgiveness but excused ourselves from the fabulous table and Jean and I stayed in Melanie's art studio. Divine and she even gave me one of her incredible paintings which now hangs prominently in my great room behind the chair where I am writing this blog. I love you Michael and Melanie and hope our paths cross again soon.
Girlfriend Weekend!
Nobody and I mean nobody can top our annual Pulpwood Queen Book Club hosted Girlfriend Weekend. Two days of author panels, workshops, and two nights of entertainment including our infamous "Ball of Hair", a dance we hold as a celebration of authors, books, literacy, girlfriends and BIG TIME FUN! Highlights this year was watching international supermodel and author, Paulina Porizkova's effect of being in my home town of historic Jefferson, Texas, population 2, 199. Timber Guys lives were changed and I look forward to the month we will be reading her book "A Model Summer" this coming spring.
Again this will be a whole chapter in my next book because the event is something I work on all year and this year it hit smack dab in the middle of my book tour. I am certifiably insane to pull this off but I did and BIG TIME my friends, BIG TIME.
The absolute highlight of this event was author, Debbie Rodriguez of "Kabul Beauty School", (also winner of The Doug Marlette Award for Pulpwood Queen Book of the Year) volunteering to do authors hair at my shop, Beauty and the Book, prior to the "Ball of Hair". Somehow I got caught up in to the backcombing big hair fray, I was only going to unlock the shop for her to do hair and then my dear friend and fellow stylist, C. Nelson Collier got lassoed into doing hair too. Then my childhood friend, Heidi Teichgraeber, former Miss Manhattan/K-State and my sister, Karen Penner of Karen Penner Designs got roped in to doing the makeovers. You all what happened in my shop with my agent, Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff and Associates and authors, Cassandra King, Judy Larsen, Lynn York, Darnell Arnoult, bookstore owner and creator of "The Book Report, Elisabeth Grant-Gipson (go to www.thebookreport.net) will not stay at Beauty and the Book. I plan to tell the world in my next book! The funnest time of my life and stock rose on hair spray that evening. I was left with 15 minutes to get to my own event where I was the host! What was I thinking! Mostly, you all live for that moment of which I did BIG TIME!
Now there is so much more to this book tour and I plan on including everything in my next book which I am calling, "The Pulpwood Queens' Magical, Mystical Book Tours (armchair and otherwise)!" which will be my stories of riding the roads with my authors and girlfriends, the stories behind the stories of all our book tour adventures and I can hardly wait to begin this writing adventure.
If you all can't tell that I love what I am doing then you all just aren't right in the head. I love doing hair, talking books, helping undiscovered authors get discovered in really BIG WAYS. I am living the American dream and it's all because I am a reader. Now a couple of days into my book tour I asked the girls, "Do you think anyone has ever died from going on book tour?" We laughed but I couldn't help commenting, "Think of the book sales! The publicity!" All I can say I tried my darnedest and it's as I always say, "You can sleep when you die!" I loved this book tour and seriously, I am beyond tired but it's the best tired anybody could ever dream of. Grand Central Publishing made my dreams come true by supporting this book tour for me! I thank them from the bottom of my heart and I gave it my all as I call my editor, Natalie Kaire, my publicist, Elly Weisenberg, her assistant, Darcey, Heusel, and webmaster, Miriam Parker, my Publisher Pulpwood Queen Posse'.
I thank my agent, the best agent in the whole wide world, but more importantly best friend, Marly Rusoff too for holding my hand along this reader now writer's way. She is also the winner of a new award we will be giving each Girlfriend Weekend. The Pulpwood Queen Literacy Award which is an award given to an individual who has devoted their life to promoting literacy. Congratulations Marly!
And now I thank all of you for making my life have a purpose and especially the Pulpwood Queens! You all came out in full regalia to meet me on the road and The Pulpwood Queens of Roarin' Red River even followed me throughout the great state of Mississippi! You are the best! It's reading folks, good books from good authors. God Bless You All and say a prayer for my book tour recovery. This 51 year old bookloving dreamer needs your prayers. Right now I have lost the juice in my "Energizer" batteries and so need you all for a recharge, okay! ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Tiara Wearing and Book Tour Sharing,
Kathy L. Patrick
"Hairdresser to the Authors"
Founder of the Pulpwood Queens Book Clubs
Beauty and the Book
608 North Polk Street
Jefferson, Texas 75657
903-665-7520
www.beautyandthebook.com, official website
www.pulpwoodqueen.com, official blog site
P.S. I will be back in my shop, Beauty and the Book, February 12th for those of you who actually can't believe I do hair. I'll leave the hair dryer on for ya! Don't call me before then as in book tour recovery. You can email me at kathy@beautyandthebook.com and I will get back with you as soon as I recover.
That night is our monthly book club meeting featuring Kim Sunee's "Trail of Crumbs". Kim will be calling in, hopefully, for a teleconference if she has recovered to from Girlfriend Weekend. Everybody brings a covered dish and great recipes in Kim's book as you see she is also the Food Editor for Cottage Magazine. Elisabeth and the Windows Book Shop crew will be joining us so all I can say is bring it on! See you at the shop and again God Bless You All on your Book Travels! XXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOOOOO
