Title reference, of course, is to Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, when he returns from the road and his wife, Linda, asks him how he did. He did not at all "knock 'em dead", selling very little if any of his unamed product.... Well sometimes I feel like Willy when I go on the road to promote my books. Once a book is published, a writer has to participate in the marketing end, or he won't be with that publisher very long. My gigs range from appearances at teeny indie bookstores, to keynoting conventions of librarians, to "One Book/One Community" type of programs, to school visits, to the occasional book club, to––well, there's really no end to the occasions. Recently I did an arts center benefit with the focus on my movie Sweet Land, which included a sit-down dinner for over two hundred, the menu (roast beef, potatoes and pie) directly from a pivotal scene in the movie, the whole event, dinner and movie screening, held in a large, autumnally decorated machine shed.

This long weekend was not untypical. I left home at 6 a.m, drove four hours to Minneapolis to do a noon slot on WCCO-TV, promoting my YA novel DEFECT and my Minneapolis NE Community Library evening-with-the-author gig that night. My 2 1/2 minute TV interview was with a woman anchor who hadn't read the novel (an author has to assume this) but I had my sound bites fairly well in order, things she can grab ahold of ..... Still, I felt tongue-tied, and was happy to get through it. The best you can hope for on TV interviews is not to look and sound like a total idiot (I much prefer radio). The larger value of the WCCO things was in leaving a brochure with the secretary for Don Shelby, main anchor, whom I know a bit, on my upcoming MOTOR series for young adults--and then running into Don in the lobby of Hilton as I was heading back to my parking ramp. We had a great "power chat", and I pitched to him the idea of doing something on air (radio) with my car/driver/novel series. He said that CBS/WCCO has the NASCAR broadcasts now, and my thing would make a great tie-in; we agreed to stay in touch. That was my reward for enduring the 2 1/2 minute interview with the anchor who didn't know me from Adam.... Then it was off to my hotel for some email (Wes at FSG has caught some last second copy editing issues on SNDIRT, and his assistant Lisa, wants to know if I want to go Chicago to some conference next fall)...finally I get a short nap, and afterward gear up for an evening presentation at NE Community Library in Minnapolis, which went swimmingly: big crowd (for a beautiful, warm evening) of about 60, with the focus on "From Fiction to Film" , Sweet Land book and movie. Signed lots of books and got back home (cheap motel in Fridley) late...Up early to heavy rain, to drive north an hour to Elk River, MN, to do a photo shoot at the brand new Elk River public library. I'll do the grand opening remarks next weekend, and the local newspaper guy wanted some photos to pump up his article. The library is a mess--tradesguys are laying carpet, putting up books shelves, etc--so I'm asked to sit in the middle of all this, on the floor, and pretend to read a book. Hey, I think it's a clever idea--a good image is hard to come by--so I do it....Then I drive north two hours, speeding all the way, to make the big conference of librarians at Cragun's Lodge in Brainerd, MN. This is my true constituency--300 librarian/media center types from across MN--and I have lunch, schmooze and sign books for two hours, DEFECT and FULL SERVICE, plus hand-out fliers on my upcoming MOTOR novels. Everybody seems happy to see me, and excited about auto racing books. I drag my butt out of there at 3:30, head north, stopping for coffee--somewhere--Pequot Lakes?--where the little shop has WFI. I check my email--there's three more from Wes and Lisa--I take care of them, and get a large latte' for the road.... I get home for dinner. Rose, bless her, does not ask me "how I've done", but I'm happy to tell her: for the most part, I knocked 'em dead.