Austin

On my way out to the reading, I found a slip of paper slid under my hotel room door warning me about Ike. Ike was possibly coming to town, and I was possibly going to come home to a hotel without power.

The reading was spectacular. Almost all my Austin friends came, and writer friends like Michalle Gould, Karen Olsson, and Jim Lewis, showed up as well. I read two sections and signed books while Emily, a whip-smart BookPeople employee, serenaded me with the things she loved most about the book. It felt fabulous.

Later, I drank frozen mojitos on a roof-top bar by the bookstore. I felt like I was in Alexandria: the heat and the outdoor couch ambience. Even later, I just felt drunk. Note the blurry drunken camera lens.

The next day, I gorged on migas and chicken friend steak and went for a baptismal dip in Barton Springs. I saw several Ike evacuees, but they were swimming and eating migas, too. I also spotted a pair of topless, redhead twins. Only in Austin...

I ended the night with a quintessential Austin activity: watching a documentary on the side of a garage. We saw a "Ho Bus" on the corner and posed in front, hos that we are, and were informed by a local that the Ho Bus was on sale for $1,400. We're considering buying it.


I'll be back in TX for the Texas Book Festival, which I'm really looking forward to. Mr. Rockslinga will finally be introduced to Austin and to all my friends.

Check out a list of Bookfest authors here.