THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

John Floyd forwarded me an email he received from a Texas man who stopped at the Books A Million in Meridian, Mississippi, while traveling and met John while he was signing Fifty Mysteries, which is getting rave reviews. Here's an excerpt from that note:

I read Deception cover to cover before I even left Atlanta! The stories were thoroughly entertaining and I have always enjoyed surprise endings. I have to confess, I stopped at the same bookstore in Meridian on the way back to Texas and bought the remainder of your books! I am now proudly attempting to solve crimes along with Miss Angela Potts.

Gosh, what a nice man! Sir, we thank you for your generosity, and it goes to show that all of us who love to read are like little kids at Christmas when we discover a new author -- we want to rush out and buy up everything he or she has written and disappear into their stories!

A roomful of folks enjoy John reading from Fifty Mysteries at Lemuria in Jackson, Mississippi, on October 29.
 

Randy Pierce, Valerie Winn, John and I all visited Pass Christian Books on November 8 and really enjoyed meeting Coast residents and others who were passing through. Owner Scott Naugle, who lost his original Pass Christian bookstore to Hurricane Katrina, opened his lovely little store on Scenic Drive about a year ago. It has a café, a second-story Mississippi writers room, and an absolutely spectacular view of the water. Be sure to stop in when you're in the area.

Mimosas and a chocolate liqueur drink were served in honor of Forsaking Mimosa and Magnolia Mud!

 

John and I put on a brief seminar at the Flynt Memorial Library in Flowood on November 20 on how to go about getting published and really enjoyed taking questions from the gathering. Librarian Ashley Biggs will host a much larger seminar in April, when Randy, Valerie, John and I will convene on a Saturday morning and give presentations on the different aspects of writing (plot, character development, point of view, sense of time and place) as well as the publishing and business sides. We really look forward to this one!

Talented Mississippi writer Katrina Byrd, flanked by John and me, after the talk in Flowood.

One of the best parts of doing what we do is running into old friends at bookstores and libraries while promoting our books. Then there are the conversations we get into with folks we don't know (like the Texas resident who bought the entire John Floyd catalog from Books A Million of Meridian). It's absolutely essential -- in my humble opinion -- that you're a people person if you want to effectively sell books, and we all have stories of "hand-selling" them to customers.

At Turning Pages Books in Natchez, a man and a woman (who turned out to be brother and sister) walked in and asked me about my new novel, Director's Cut. They both bought copies, and I learned that she and her family lived in Louisiana and he and his family were from Little Rock, Arkansas. I got a very nice email from him the other day, and I can't thank him enough for taking the time to write me. His kind comments absolutely made my day.

Great to see my friend Jason Roberts at Books A Million of Hattiesburg...

...and it's always good to see my cousin Jeanie Ables when I visit Natchez to sign books!
 

Randy, me, and John at The Book Mart in Starkville on November 23. Not a good idea to put us next to the food!

 

We'll drive lots of miles, shake lots of hands, and pitch our books to lots of folks in December ... and we wouldn't have it any other way! Visit www.dogwoodpress.com for a complete list of book tour stops, and if you have a Kindle and would prefer a download, here's what's available from the Dogwood Press catalog:

RANDY PIERCE - Magnolia Mud
VALERIE WINN - Forsaking Mimosa
JOE LEE - Director's Cut
JOE LEE - Last Chance Texaco
JOE LEE - The Long Road Home
JOE LEE - The Magnolia Triangle
JOHN M. FLOYD - Deception
JOHN M. FLOYD - Clockwork
***JOHN M. FLOYD - Fifty Mysteries (coming in December)
JOHN LEE - The Legend of Roger

Thanks very much for your time, and stop and say hello at a book event! Happy Thanksgiving!