I wasn’t expecting to attend the Tucson Festival of Books this year. After all, I have been struggling with health issues, and I didn’t have a “new” book this year (although the cookbook was still eligible). So when my publisher sent an email regarding the location of their booth, I didn’t give it a thought. Then I ran into a neighbor who had published a book last year who said that he was going to the festival. I thought, “Why not?” So we replied to the email, mapped out a few sessions to attend, and took a few books with us to the festival. My wife made a few dozen cookies (fruit tarts) for people to sample. The cookies were a hit, the book sales not so much, though there were those who said that they were going to purchase them online when they returned home. There was a concert scheduled at the end of the day with the band “The Rock Bottom Remainders” which included Dave Barry and Amy Tan, among others. However, the cool weather with the threatening rain (piddling drops) helped with our decision to call it the end of a very interesting day.
Allan Spiegler 