Dateline: Washington DC, Washington Terrace Hotel, 26 April
Flew into BWI this afternoon and was picked up by the local media company Putnam used last month in my Premeditated Media Tour.
Bad news right off the bat: Hannity & Colmes of Fox cancelled my appearance on the show. They wanted to focus more on combat in Iraq, and they were smart enough not to bring me on under those conditions. So they promise to reschedule. We shall see . . .
So we head off to first and only event of day: long interview with Matt Kelley of Associated Press, a serious student of, and reporter on the Pentagon and Department of Defense. He's read the book through and poses a lot of good questions. He interviews me for 90 minutes, with short break for some photos of me in front of world map in one of the Associated Press office pools. Upshot is supposed to be article in very near term (even tomorrow maybe) that is part interview, part profile, and part review. Not sure where it will appear because it all depends on which pubs pick up the story from AP. However it unfolds, it was an interesting interaction, which left me feeling good about the book and how it will be interpreted by professionals in the business.
So, with nothing else to do for night, I order some nice room service and then head out for long walk to Georgetown to catch Kill Bill, Vol. 2. The walk to the Georgetown Loews is much longer than I realize, so I miss the 7:50 show. With an hour to kill before the 8:50, I wander into a big Barnes and Noble on M Street.
I walk up to the big table with new non-fiction. I see Funny Cide and Blue Blood, two books from my house (Putnam/Riverhead), but don't see mine. I get that sinking feeling . . .
Then I walk around to the other side of the table and there are six copies of my book in the middle of the table.
That feels pretty good to see.
I walk up to the service center counter and ask the young lady there if B&N encourages authors to sign books if they drop by. She said absolutely and brought over the six copies for me to sign on the spot, along with about 15 more from the second floor. I sign all on the first title page using an old pen from my Dad (Barnett Law Office 20th anniversary pen). He would have liked that.
So no national TV on Day 1 (sniff!), but I manage to engineer my very first book signing, which felt pretty cool.
Kill Bill Vol. 2, BTW, really was as good as promised. Still, I missed the Crazy 88s from Vol. 1.
But, as I've learned today, you make do with what is presented to you. David Carradine looked great. The books in B&N on M Street looked great (they put a sticker on each saying "autographed copy!"). And frankly, when I put on my new 3 button suits, I look great.
So I get a good night's sleep and hope for better tomorrow. Word is Fox morning news program may cancel in the morning, but rest seems okay for now.
We shall see . . ..
