Ellensburg

Headed to Ellensburg on Saturday morning (7/28). Started doing book signings at Pearl Street Books & Gifts beginning 10AM. It was a pleasure to meet owner Michelle who is into horses, skiing, and books, among other things. The store is very nice, homey but new, and they have various club meetings and events. I just love the Indie book stores. If you get a chance to stop by Michelle's store, say "hi" from me.

I also played with Jake Bergevin's Javatown Swing Orchestra that evening at the Jazz In The Valley festival. What a lot of fun!

Whirlwind

Wow! This is my first opportunity to write about this short whirlwind tour and since it is late, it won't be in detail this time. It is now Monday at 12:18 AM. On Friday, I woke at 3:30 AM to get ready to cruise down to the Bookworm in Richland. I enjoyed talking with owner, Cindy. She was concerned about the cancellation of the "farmer's market" style event usually held on her block due to the Allied Arts show. However,  37 copies of Help! I'm In The Band! were signed in Tri-Cities, with most of them being sold in her store. It was also great seeing a few past friends during that signing.

It was also a blast playing with Frank & Debi of ThreeJazz at Bookwalter Winery. The trio was "on it" and Frank was at the top of his game. Can't wait to return.

I'll talk more about the rest of the weekend after some sleep.............

A New Review

The book, "Help! I'm In The Band!" received a nice review from James A. Cox from Midwest Book Review. He makes the comment, "An offbeat tale blends humor, fishing, and those with their own dreams of band membership, "Help!" I'm In the Band" is a fine and much recommended pick..." You can read the rest of the blurb at Midwest Review.

Also, I am encouraging any who are willing to write a review about the book at Amazon. The more reviews that come in, the better chance to get distributors to look at it. You can also "Like" it on the Amazon link.

Getting ready for the short book tour in less than a week!

Eastern Washington

I have wrapped up the schedule for the first part of August. Unfortunately my schedule doesn't quite work out with the Wenatchee/Leavenworth area...they like the Friday-Saturday thing and I just won't be able to make that work this time. So here is the plan for my book signings:

July 27, Friday, 10AM to 12PM.  -- The Bookworm --  Richland, WA
July 28, Saturday, 10AM to 12PM.  -- Pearl Street Books & Gifts --   Ellensburg, WA
August 1, Wednesday, 12PM to 2PM.  -- Book and Game --  Walla Walla, WA
August 3, Friday, 4PM to 6PM.  -- and Books, Too! --    Clarkston, WA
August 4, Saturday, 1PM to 3PM.  -- Auntie's Bookstore --   Spokane, WA

There are a few performances that go hand-in-hand with the signings:

July 27, Friday, 7PM to 10PM.  -- Bookwalter Winery--  Richland, WA

July 28, Saturday, 8PM to 9:30PM.  -- Jazz In The Valley --  Ellensburg, WA

             (w/Jake Bergevin & the Javatown Swing Orchestra at the Moose Lodge) 

July 29, Sunday, 2:30PM to 4PM.  -- Jazz In The Valley --  Ellensburg, WA

             (w/Jazz In The Valley All-Stars on the Main Stage) 

August 2, Thursday, 6PM to 9PM.  -- Roosters Waterfront Restaurant --    Clarkston, WA 

So if you live in Eastern Washington, you have no excuse for not coming out and saying "Hi" at some event! I've tried to get around to all of the regions. Besides, you might actually enjoy the music or get a laugh out of the book. You're probably in one of the chapters. If you are one of my ex-students, I know you are in chapter two. 

Put a date or two on your calendar and I'll see you soon. - gm

Books will be arriving!

So Auntie's (Spokane) wants books. University Book Store (Mill Creek) wants books. So if you haunt those places or those places haunt you, plan on the books being available in those stores by the middle of next week. Hope to see you at Luca's tonight. I'll be the one with a soprano sax.

A Day Off

  So yesterday was my first real day off since....ok, I don't remember. I probably should have been organizing for the jazz camp I direct, or maybe do more work on the book tour in Washington State, or possibly practice for the upcoming gig on Sunday, or vacuum my car, or clean the garage, or update my   book's FB page.
  Instead, I went sailing with Cap'n Jack. I made the mistake of calling him Captain Jack and almost had to walk the plank, if you could fit a plank on my 15 foot sailboat. I found out that Cap'n Jack is the correct vernacular if you don't want people to know you're a landlubber in the first 60 seconds. Cap'n Jack is at home commanding the vessel. In fact he is so at home that he wanted to go after some pirates who had their rap sounds cranked so loud you couldn't hear the bald eagles right over our heads. I told him that ramming the craft was not what my sailboat was built for, especially since the winds were too light for ramming speed.
  And.....we finally have summer in the Puget Sound!!! So, I spent the morning today (67%) on the back patio, having breakfast and writing. Family still in bed. Ahhhhhhhh.