Tayari's Blog: Report From The Road: Tempe, AZ

My reading at Changing Hands Booktore was yesterday at 7pm. At 5pm my escort and I made a quick pit stop at Brunello, my FAVORITE restaurant in the world. (In Mesa-- Dobson and Baseline.) Linda Eldridge, bartender and good friend, was happy to see me. "Can I set you up with a peach martini?"
"Yes, please."

So Linda filled me in on all of the gossip around the restaurant. Some good news, some bad. I looked at photos of her adorable grandson. I sucked down another martini and a half.

When I arrived a Changing Hands, I was moving sort of slowly. Not because of the peach martinis, but because I was carrying a rocking horse/sheep named Baa-Baa as a gift for Ava, my new goddaughter. As I struggled into the bookstore, Baa-Baa in tow, people said, "What's with the sheep?"
After finding Baa-Baa a place by the lectern, I began my reading.

Such a nice group of people showed up! If there had been that many cool people in Tempe, maybe I wouldn't have moved away!

The best thing about this reading is that so many people had actually read the book. As a matter of fact, I had to sort of cut off a few questioners who had differences of opinion about the end of the novel. This is definitely a new experiernce for me. With Leaving Atlanta, I felt like I was out there, doing my little tap dance, trying to get people to give me and my book a chance. But this time, I have been among people who have already given me a test drive. It's a really good feeling.

In attendance were the Richardson sibs, local celebrities in their own rights. Seeing them makes my eyes happy.

Leaving the bookstore, I heard a woman ask the owner. "Do you have any more of those sheep?" As I was running back after leaving me cell phone, someone said to me, "How much are you asking for the sheep?" (The management at Changing Hands has informed me that because of all of the interest, they are going to start selling Baa-Baas! They actually, turned him over and found the name of the distributer and sku number from his underneath!)

For a little nightcap, I went back to Brunello. It was great to see all of the old crew. Ivan was there and in a good mood. We practised saying Croatian curses. Mikie has found true love and brought her around for all to see. Linda is always an inspiration, althought I doubt that she would believe me.