Book Tour-Knoxville

I'm in Knoxville for my third event on the book tour for my new novel, Southernmost.  More about that in a bit.  First, I want to tell you about looking out the window of my hotel and being washed over with a wave of nostalgia.

When I check into a hotel, one of the first things I do is examine the view.  Today, I found the Church Street United Methodist Church standing right across from my room and I was drawn back to the summer of 1982, when I was ten years old.  That was the summer the World's Fair came to Appalachia, and I spent months begging my parents to take me to Knoxville to see all of the exhibits and the amazing new Sunsphere that had been built there just for the fair.  I do not have a lot of memories from my childhood.  Snippets here and there. At the World's Fair I mostly remember the food, the traditional costumes that people from different countries were wearing, the cacophony of music and different languages as we wondered through.

But the thing I remember best is that my parents parked our car in front of this church.  I remember it so clearly because it was the first time I ever remember being in a real city.  I grew up about an hour north of Knoxville, just over the Kentucky state line, and we went there two or three times a year--usually if someone was in dire condition at one of the major hospitals in the city, or to shop for school clothes on Tax Free Day, which our state didn't have.  But I never remember going downtown until that day.  My parents were not the kind of people who travelled much.  My father had been all over the world in the military and as a young married couple they had ventured off to "The North" to find work in the factories of Michigan before their homesickness was too much to bear and they returned home.  So they weren't rubes. But they didn't much like leaving home.  And they had no use for the city.  Besides, back then there wasn't the kind of downtown revitalization that is occurring in cities now, so it's a wonder the World's Fair was located so near the heart of the city to begin with.  But it had.

I remember this church because once the car was parked, I got out and looked up and it seemed to me that I was standing in front of a gigantic cathedral.  I remember feeling as if it took forever to lean my head back enough to see all the way up to the top of the tower.  I had never seen a church like this.  I had never seen so much commerce and traffic all in one place.  My parents were not comfortable in this situation and they had not wanted to bring me, but they always did everything they could to expand my horizons, to give me as much education and access as they could.  So they had gone against everything in them and carried me to the city for a fair they had no desire to attend.  Seeing the church reminded me of what great parents they had been and all the ways they gave me the keys to become a writer, which of course is the reason I'm here today.

Seeing the church made me thankful for my parents, for never questioning my desire to learn more and my artistic sensibility.  It made me think about how geographically small my world was back then even though the world of my mind and heart were much larger, mostly because my parents made sure that was the case.  Looking out at the church filled me a particular kind of longing that feels a lot like homesickness.  Instead of pining for a place, however, it's about pining for a time, for days gone by that we never can have back again.  For the youth of my parents and the promise that we must have all felt that day, even if only one of us was excited to be there.
Taken from my hotel room, the Church Street United Methodist Church in afternoon light.

I'm always thankful to be a published writer.  To have "made it" in the tough literary world enough to have my books out into the world.  But looking out at the church where my young family had once parked their car made me even more thankful than usual.  Because now I am here in the city to promote my book, and I'll be traveling all over the country to do that.  And being a writer has now carried me all over the world and shown me things I never would have dreamt possible when I was that little boy standing on Henley Street with my mouth agape at the massive church before me.

This afternoon I walked the few blocks over to Union Avenue Books, once of the best bookstores in The South, where I was greeted with a huge crowd who were full of Sunday afternoon goodness.  It was such a pleasure to visit with all of them and talk about the things that have always been important to me:  books, language, community, family.  

This is my third stop on book tour and so far it's been great, with really large crowds full of generous-hearted people in both Louisville and Lexington.  I have a lot of stops ahead of me.  I may be in my forties now, but I still miss my parents while I'm out on the road like this.  And I certainly did today. 

Most of the huge crowd that was awaiting me at Union Avenue Books this afternoon.  It is always deeply moving to find that people have come out to see me.  


  P.S.  Since I failed to post them at the time, here are pictures from my first two events.

My first event for Southernmost was held at Crescent Hill Church and was hosted by Carmichael's Bookstore in Louisville.  We had more than 400 people. 
Almost 200 folks came out to my second event, at Brier Books in Lexington.


Comments

Unknown said…
Love this...can hear your voice as I read it. I especially like your understanding of “pining for days and a time gone by....”. I do that a lot, but especially when I read your books.
Long trần said…
Thanks a lot for sharing and I have some special things for you. If you are in free time. Read and ponder the good quotes of life below, you will surely draw in life's own deep lessons.quotes about time passing and or you can relax by playing the game after the tired working timecar parking games free or reading list ngôn tình hiện đại hoàn. Each article definitely sexmang to give you the most comfortable feeling. Enjoy the experience!
Long trần said…
Thanks a lot for sharing and I have some special things for you. If you are in free time. Read and ponder the good quotes of life below, you will surely draw in life's own deep lessons.quotes about time passing and or you can relax by playing the game after the tired working timecar parking games free or reading list ngôn tình hiện đại hoàn. Each article definitely sexmang to give you the most comfortable feeling. Enjoy the experience!
Spell Home said…

Wow i never thought i will be happy in my life ever again, i want you all to thank DR OGUDUGU of GREATOGUDUGU@GMAIL.COM, he is a father that takes care of his children the spell caster of our time, he has saved me from a very ugly situation that almost made my life miserable and i want you all to thank him for me,my husband and i have be married for so many years now with children and the relationship was being threatened by a small girl in his working place,she was almost destroying my home i met so many spell casters but to no avail until i met a friend who came from Africa and she told me about DR OGUDUGU, and i decided to contact him and try him out as i was losing faith in all spell casters, but he told not to worry that now am in his temple everything will be alright he assured me 100% that his spell has no side effects and that it will work straight and save my home and my marriage and after he has performed the sacrifices and casting the spell, my husband came back to us with love and affection and he loved us more and more and he never looked back or none did his love for me waiver, if you are also experiencing this sort of your situation in your home, if your husband is drifting away, if you are experiencing a broken home or you have lost your husband to a young woman outside there then look no further help is here as GREATOGUDUGU@GMAIL.COM is ready to help you out okay for any of your problem is it financial needs, revenge spell, job spell, promotion spell what kind of spell do you need DR OGUDUGU is going to solve it for you okay i have promised him to always talk of his good works to the world in general and to any body who cares to listen, you can email him on his personal email on or GREATOGUDUGU@GMAIL.COM and he will attend to you as soon as possible okay.Traditional Healer, Witchcraft spells , lost love spells , Voodoo spells , Psychic stop cheating in your relationships now with a spell of love protection , lost love spells ,it takes 24hours to start it work 100% guarantee SAME DAY RESULT. HE CAN FIX THE FOLLOWING PROBLEMS TO ALL ACROSS THE GLOBE ON: 1. Getting your lover or husband back 2. Spiritual bulletproof 3. Training 4. Money spell 5. Long life spell 6. Prosperity spell 7. Protection spell 8. Get a job spell 9. Becoming a manager spell 10. Get a huge loan without paying any fee spell 11. Getting your scam money back 12. Child spell 13. Pregnancy spell 14. Freedom spell 15. Love spell 16, vanishing spell 17. Invisible human spell 18. Success or pass spell 19. Marriage spell 20. Avenging spell 21. Popularity spell 22. Killing spell 23. Cancer spell 24. Supernatural power spell 25. Madness spell 26. Free house loan spell 27. Production spell of films and movie 28. Hiv/aids spell 29. Tuberculosis spell 30. Loose weight and body spell. once again his email is or GREATOGUDUGU@GMAIL.COM
grace said…
Dr abaka herbal medicine is a good remedy for herpes simplex virus cure. My name is rebecaa lola I just want to share this article about Dr abaka who helped me, i want to inform the public how i was cured from (HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS), i visited different hospital but they gave me list of drugs like Familiar , Zovirax, and Valtrex which is very expensive to treat the symptoms and never cured me. I was browsing through the Internet searching for remedy on HERPES and i saw comment of people talking about how DR abaka cured them, when i contacted him he gave me hope and send a Herbal medicine to me that i took and it seriously worked for me, am a free person now without any problem, my HERPES result came out negative, I pray to God to never let me and my family forget you in our life,i am now cured permanently.you can also get your self cured, if you really need this dr's help,you can reach him now email: drabakaspelltemple@gmail.com Or whats app +2349063230051 This is real,He also has herbal cure for the Following DISEASES, eczema,urethra wart,chronic problems.Herpes, Cancer, Als,Hepatitis, Diabetes, HPV,Infections,ulcer, Love spell ETC.
Unknown said…
I want to share this great testimony to the world on how Dr VOODOO cure me from HSV1&2 with his herbs, I was nervous when i first contact him about the cure for HSV but i decided to give him a try because i was desperate to get cured and be free from HSV. Dr VOODOO prepared the remedy and sent it to me through UPS,which I use just the way Dr VOODOO instructed me and thank God today I am a beneficiary to this cure and I went back to the hospital after 7 days of taking the herbs and I tested HSV1&2 Negative. So I will tell you all who are looking for a cure to his/her HSV1&2 that Dr VOODOO took research before he could finally get the solution to it and a lot of people are benefiting from him right now. He also cured my friend from HPV. Dr VOODOO heals with natural herbs. Please I urge you to contact him now through his email address: voodoospelltemple66@gmail.com or call and WhatsApp him on +2348140120719. He is capable of curing HIV/AIDS, HERPES, HPV, HSV1&2, CANCER of all kinds, DIABETES and so many other infections.
Abcya said…
I choose to follow your writing because they bring me what I want. I hope that you can upload new posts. Many thanks!
Share with your friends if they are also looking for one of the new games to join. We update the same games with this game like Panda-Baby-Bear-Care Game at friv 2021.games. You will definitely love them.
Shannon Mackle said…
I bought a herbal medicine,

I took the medicine for 2 weeks,

I am now free from Herpes.

Win Ex Back in 48 hours

[Robinsonbuckler11]@Gmail Com...

Popular posts from this blog

What I Read This Year

Favorite Books (Today)

Books of 2016