A Terrific Maritime Tour

I’m back! Got back on Wednesday, tired but pleased with the 11 day book tour. Vicki Delany and I travelled over 3600 kilometers visiting stores in Knowlton, Lennoxville, Fredericton, Moncton and Halifax. We had a super turn out to our event at the Fredericton Public Library and an equally successful panel event at Mount Saint Vincent University. And we met lots of eager readers intent on delving into a new mystery. I will never forget Carol, who ran up breathless to get a signed copy of Arctic Blue Death. We’d met at the Madison Bouchercon and she’d been a fan ever since. Brome Lake Bookstore was a delight, where we were treated with a visit from friend and fellow crime writer Louise Penny, her husband, Michael and their happily friendly golden retriever, Trudy.

And I must not forget another dog I cozied up to, Lucy, the German shepherd at Jenny’s wonderfully comfortable house in Knowlton, where Vicki and I spent our first night on the road. I’m afraid I miss my DeMontigny and loved giving these dogs the vigorous pats I used to give to him.

People bent over backwards to make our trip a success, from Jenny in Knowlton and Patti in Halifax, who opened their doors to us, Danny and Lucy of Brome Lake Books, Jim and Roya at Champlain College, Leslie at the Fredericton Public Library, Patti and Jean at Mount Saint Vincent University and the helpful and friendly staff of the various Chapters and Coles where Vicki and I spent many hours.

I also had terrific visits with my cousins and uncle in Fredericton and Moncton. We hadn't seen each other since my mother's funeral eight years ago. Unfortunately as happens with most far flung families we only see each other at weddings and funerals and these days funerals seem to be happening more frequently than the weddings.

Vicki and I only had one mishap and that was with my car. We ran into trouble in Halifax and had it towed to a dealer, who refused to look at it until much later in the day. Unfortunately that evening we had to be in Moncton, a 2.5 hour drive away, so I found another Chrysler dealer, who agreed to find out at least what was wrong with the vehicle as soon as I brought it in. With our fingers crossed that we wouldn't break down, I drove it over the Dartmouth bridge to the motors, where within the hour we found out the problem only to learn that they didn't have the required part and wouldn't until the next day. The service rep. then got on the phone and discovered the part was available at a Chrysler motors in Moncton. So with assurance from the mechanic that we could make it, we drove to Moncton where the part was speedily replace. Many kudos to the great service from both Dartmouth Chrysler and Moncton Chrysler. And a raspberry to Steele Chrysler.

I've included a couple of photos from the trip. Vicki took the one of me on the quai of North Hatley where Insp. Gamache is reported to hang out. And Jim Napier took the one of me talking to a customer about my books at the Bishop's University Bookstore. I tried to include a photo of Vicki and me, but it kept being uploaded incorrectly. So I gave up. Not to worry, I do have some good photos of Vicki and me with Barbara Fradkin and Mary Jane Maffini on our trip to Indianapolis. I'll post these to another blog.