 Nora's
Carolina
Moon Tour 2000
Borders
Boca Raton, Florida
Friday, March 10
Man.
Last night's signing was great. Nice store, nice
staff. But I didn't know until I left that they'd
cut off the line and turned people away. Jeez.
Trying to track down the reason--I think it might
have been due to the mall closing hours. Wish
they'd just told me there was a problem and to pick
up the pace. I HATE knowing anyone was turned away.
Sucks.
Got a good night's sleep, and didn't have to get
up crack of dawn. Left for the airport at 8:15,
hung out, signed books in an airport store, and had
a reasonably easy flight down to West Palm. And
there my troubles began.
Glorious weather, gorgeous hotel. And my room
isn't ready. They tell me an hour, so I suck this
in and figure, hey, go drown your sorrows by the
pool with a margarita. Not so bad. Had some lunch
and margarita #2. Give them 90 minutes.
Room not ready, and now they won't give me a
time. I'm tired now, want my room and a horizontal
surface. This is supposed to be a half day off.
Right.
Call NY and get them on the case. We're
hammering at them from both ends, me politely.
Can't I just go up to the room, while it's being
cleaned. Nope, against policy. So sorry. NY is
obviously less polite and I start having suits come
out to apologize and offer me drinks. Don't want
drinks, want bed. NY is calling them, calling me,
desk clerks begin to look at me with fear and
loathing. Suits come out periodically to offer
apologies, and more drinks.
Get me a room, I beg. I gotta have a room.
Ten minutes, I am assured. I sit on the lobby
sofa and drift into a semi-trance state. Cell phone
rings. NY. Ten minutes, I am assured. I know this.
Ten minutes pass. Fifteen. NY calls. Are you in
your room? Nope. Argh. Much gnashing of teeth. Keep
me on the phone while they call hotel. Suit comes
out, room is ready. I am ordered from NY not to
leave lobby without my luggage which has been
stored. I relate this, and am stared out with great
consternation and vague alarm. Luggage will be
right behind you, I am promised. Bellmen comes and
backs this up. NY gives me go ahead, but wants to
keep me on the phone until I'm IN the room, WITH my
luggage. LOL.
I feel like Scully on that X Files episode,
rushing through corridors and into elevators with a
phone at the ear. Suit beside me is obviously
cowed. Escorts me into my suites while I continue
to talk to NY. Apologizes profusely, bows out. I
scope out suite while relating the territory to NY.
Very nice. I have an ocean view with terraces,
parlor and bedroom. NY has sent up champagne and
chocolate covered strawberries.
Luggage does indeed arrive in a timely fashion,
and I am where I'm supposed to be only three HOURS
behind schedule.
Pull out tonight clothes, decide, hey, I ain't
breaking out the iron and call valet. Am promised
them back, pressed, in an hour. Now working on hour
and a half. Note to self: Call valet.
Phone rings. NY--need to talk to Time reporter
for last minute fact check. Article in Time will be
in Monday's edition. Do that. Publisher calls with
first week's chain store sales numbers. We are
kicking serious butt. Happy days. Am warned that
COO is so happy, she'd already planning next year's
tour attack. God help me. Talk to Mom. Take a
shower and stand under the spray and groan in
abject pleasure.
Will be picked up at six for tonight's signing.
Want to come back to rest of champagne and an in
room movie. Want it bad. Half day tomorrow, I hope.
Perhaps I'll get a walk on the beach and an hour's
writing time. Life would be so good.
Nora
Added on March 11
Hmm, where did I leave off?
Long drive to last night's signing. Events
coordinator a bit of a ditz. Can't get her to
understand that I want her to--as she was
instructed in fax from NY--have the Robb book in
the signing area. YES, I will sign it AND anything
else I've written. Jeez. Do the Q&A deal, start
to sign, ask her again about the new Robb as people
are asking me if it's out and available. Lovely
crowd, as usual. I really have the best readers in
the world. Ask AGAIN about the Robb book, and she
finally digs out the backlist and puts them on the
table.
I call out to her--Where's the new one. (This is
after, again, being asked by customers where it
is.) Oh, she says, it's up front. Well, says I,
drippingly polite, I can't sign it if it's up
front. Why don't we have it on the table?
She finally brings it back.
I got more food! Chocolate! Adorable garden
plaques. Head out for long drive back.
Get dinner, watch movie. Go to bed with the
terrace doors open so I can hear the surf.
Rain this morning. Very dramatic and cool over
the water.
Oops, forgot. As I was getting on the elevator
last night, Regis Philbin gets on with me. We
exchange pleasantries. And I ask what must be
asked. Is that your final answer. We joke about
that a bit, and then try to find out way out of the
maze of corridors to the lobby. He's cute, cuter
than he looks on TV. Little guy, very well groomed.
Anyway, long, long drive to Jensen beach and the
Waldons that won me in last year's contest. Both
escorts have warned me this is a little store in a
nowhere town. They don't seem pleased I'm going
there. I figure, hey, they won me, I go.
Traffic, rain, and a long wait for a quick hit
of fries at MacD's, then to the store. It's a
smallish mall store, but the staff is wonderful.
Happy, enthusiastic, prepared--with M&M's and
DP. Crowd's already lined up, so although I'm early
we do the Q&A. Fun bunch. I sign for nearly two
hours, and see perfectly well how they won. They
know their job and their customer base. And they
love books.
Run across to sign stock at a B&N--also a
nice, friendly store. Get to play with baby Kiki.
She signed books with me. I am madly in love with
this baby.
Drive back--escort is very nice and seriously
loved CM. She quizzes me on it on the drive. LOL.
Now I've got food coming. An early evening and a
reasonably timed flight out to Nashville. If not
for the change of planes in Atlanta, it would be
perfect. However, I think my gorgeous, warm weather
idyll is at an end.
Nora
ADWOFF > NORA'S
TOURS >
CAROLINA
MOON
TOUR > Boca
Raton
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