I’m back from my signing at Murder By the Book in Houston, which went very well, I thought. I missed several friends I’d hoped to see who weren’t able to attend, but the customers who were there were fun to talk to, and McKenna and the rest of the staff couldn’t have been nicer. As for the store itself, if you’re a mystery fan and you’re anywhere near Houston and you haven’t been there yet . . . start making plans to visit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much mystery fiction of all types in one place outside of Bill Crider’s house and my old studio. It’s just an amazing collection. I started buying stuff for myself after the signing was over and had to make myself stop after a while.
As for Houston itself, the last time I was there was in 1961, a week or two before Hurricane Carla came ashore nearby. I remember my dad complaining about the traffic and how hard it was to find your way around, even then. As you can imagine, nearly fifty years later neither of those situations had improved. I got turned around when I came into town on Friday and wound up going the wrong way, but I figured that out fairly quickly and got squared away. By the time I left I knew my way around the streets in the vicinity of the hotel and the bookstore pretty well. But it was still very nice to get back to my neck of the woods.
And again, Murder By the Book is a wonderful store. If you can, go there. Buy books.
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4 comments:
Glad to hear the reading went well. I've never been to Murder by the Book, but then again I've never been to Houston. If I ever make it out that way (and hopefully I will soon!) I'll be sure to drop by. Sounds like a great place.
James, again, it pained me tremendously to miss your signing. Grrr! I'm happy you loved MbtB as much as I (and so many more) do. Fantastic store, simply the best at what they do.
Re: Houston - Well, I was born/raised/now live here. It's my town and I love it. Traffic is a full-contact sport usually. Blinkers are optional and usually only give other drivers reason to cut you off. Wish I still had my F-150 instead of my Matrix. Anyway, glad you enjoyed your trip.
I am so happy the reading and signing went well. I just wish I had been there. Amazing to me that Texas is so big that this is a substantial trip for you.
Patti, Here's what blew me away when I lived in Ohio for a year. The distance between Cincinnati in the southwest and Cleveland in the northeast is the distance Houston is from Dallas. One of my favorite Texas-pride things is driving west on I-10 from Louisiana into Texas. You see the mile markers on the La. side counting down (4, 3, 2, 1) then you hit the Welcome to Texas sign. One of the first signs you see is the mileage it takes to get to El Paso: 867 or so. Love it!
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