Tour Day 30, 31, and 32

Miles driven so far: 6289
Bookstores visited so far: 291
Books signed so far: 2548
Books hand sold so far: 169
Bookstores remaining: 209

Rustymobile stories:

• Barry Eisler, while driving the Rustymobile through NY, was unimpressed with the less-than-responsive acceleration of my Suzuki Sidekick. To quote Barry: "What have you got under the hood, a sewing machine?" I responded that it got 32 stitches to the gallon. Then I began to sing the Welcome Back Kotter theme when we entered Brooklyn, which annoyed him to no end.

• In West Haven Connecticut I got a flat tire. The culprit was a screw. I'm not sure how a screw, lying on the road, can pierce a steel belted radial, but this one did. I removed it with, you guessed it, a screwdriver, then did the rubber patch/fix a flat thing.

• The Rustymobile's air conditioning is functioning in this heat wave, but the leak is producing large amounts of water. I had to buy a bigger bucket to catch the dripping on the passenger side.

• I was almost hit by a truck the other day. It was entirely the other driver's fault. I was eating a sandwich, talking on the phone, programming my GPS, and I'd drifted into his lane and he didn't honk his horn fast enough. Some people shouldn't be allowed on the road.

• I locked my keys in my car at a gas station. Since I only have one key, I always check my pockets before I lock the doors. In this case, I was getting rid of some accumlated garbage and left my keys on the front seat, then slammed the door without thinking. Luckily, the window was open a centimeter. I taped together some gas station straws and made the end into a hook, then fished the keys off the seat. My wife told me that I was really clever, but a clever man wouldn't have locked his keys in the car in the first place.

• The aforementioned Barry Eisler, disgusted at how filthy my windshield was, finally pulled into a gas station to clean it himself. True to form, he did a great job, and made it seem like natural causes. Welcome back, Barry!

• I stayed overnight at the lovely and talented Jackie Kessler's house, and we tag-teamed a few stores. (Jackie writes paranormal romance, and her new book, Hell's Belles, comes out next year. Check out her new website.) The Rustymobile has a tiny quirk where the passenger side door doesn't lock unless you lift the handle while closing it. Between this, and the water dripping between her feet from the air conditioning, Jackie sweetly said in reference to the Rustymobile, "I really like those signs your publisher made for you."

For those interested, I'll be on World Talk Radio Writer's Roundtable today from 12pm until 2pm Eastern. Click on the above link to listen live, or visit it later to hear it in the archives. James Rollins will also be on with me.

For those looking to buy signed copies of my books, here's where I've been lately:

Borders North Attleboro MA

Borders Express North Attleboror MA

BN Warwick NY

BN Middletown RI

The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza Albany NY

Borders Albany NY

Borders Clifton Park NY

BN Albany NY

BN Schenectady NY

Walden Albany NY

Walden Latham NY

Borders Express Schenectady NY

Borders Saratoga Springs NY

BN Saratoga Springs NY

Walden Warwick RI

BN Dartmouth MA

BN East Walpole MA

Walden Saratoga Springa NY

BN Bellingham MA

BN Holyoke MA

BN Pittsfield MA

BN Kingston NY

Walden Kingston NY

Walden Paramus NJ

BN Pughkeepsie NY

Borders Poughkeepsie NY

BN Newbury NY

Borders Ramsey NJ

Borders 230 Garden State Plaza Paramus NJ

Borders Rt 17 Paramus NJ

BN Paramus NJ

Also, the other night I had dinner with the very funny mystery writer Tom Schreck, who just signed a two book deal. He paid for dinner, so I urge everyone reading this to buy his Amazon.com Short stories. Click here for the latest. It's funny. You'll like it. And it's only 49 cents.