TULSA & BENTONVILLE

Whitty Books
Tulsa, OK

August 12, 2023

Two Friends Bookstore
Bentonville, AR

August 13, 2023


Tulsa & Bentonville

After getting back home to Los Angeles after the Oregon adventure, Stephanie and I had less than 48 hours to kiss the cats and child, unpack, do laundry, and repack for a 3-week driving excursion across the United States. But I was EXCITED. This was the part of the 3-month tour I was really looking forward to - driving through middle America, through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky all the way up the coast through Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and Boston. I was ready!

We flew to Tulsa from L.A., got the car we'd essentially be living in for the next few weeks, and made our way downtown to a funky little hotel on Route 66. After checking in and seeing a few sights (like a dinosaur bookstore and a giant gold digger statue) we caught up with Mitch Hull, one of the admins and founders of the AWESOME Facebook fan group, FRACASSI FREAKS. 




Mitch and his wonderful family had us over to their home where I signed... and signed... and signed... lots of books for both Mitch as well as books we needed to ship for the Tour Kickstarter and a big giveaway happening in the FF group. I loved every second of it and am ALWAYS happy to sign books for folks. It was a late but very fun night, and the next day we had a big day - the launch of Mitch's custom brew for the tour, BEERS IN THE VALLEY, and a live event at WHITTY BOOKS. 



After hitting "The Outsiders House" and getting my fill of PonyBoy and a trip to Gardner's where I hung out with the Red Hulk, we headed to Whitty Books.



The event was FANTASTIC. Lots of folks turned out to Whitty for a cup of hazy IPA from the beer keg and a signed copy of BOYS IN THE VALLEY. It was so cool to see a few folks there from the FF group (wassup Jason & David!), and the bookstore were incredible hosts. 







To celebrate the launch and the successful signing, we went out to Nola's Restaurant for some cajun food and I had the best Voodoo Chicken I've ever had in my life. Will need to go back for more at some point!


The next morning we stopped by the brewery to say goodbye to Mitch and load the rental car with about 40 cans of BEERS IN THE VALLEY. I'll be having them at all my future stops until I run out, so if you come on out don't forget to ask for a can!

Leaving Tulsa with heavy hearts, Stephanie and I hopped on the highway and headed for Arkansas. We had a date with Two Friends Books later that day, and we needed to get a move on.

We arrived in Bentonville no problem and made quick work of lunch and a pre-event scotch for me at the local museum before heading to TWO FRIENDS BOOKSTORE.




The event absolutely blew me away. There's a horror book club at this store run by Morgan, who I met, in cahoots with the owners, Rachel and Monica, and so many of them came out for the reading that it was likely the largest event of the entire tour. Close to 40 folks filled Two Friends and I was so grateful to Adam Fall for moderating the Q&A and basically just making sure things went smoothly. The people who came out were so amazing, asked great questions and were incredibly into the entire event. 





Want to say how thankful I am for Mary, who made me a super cool BITV bracelet, and to David and Nick, members of FF, who hung out for a bit and chatted and brought lots of books for me to sign! 





All in all, just an amazing night. After the event, Steph and I had to get to Nashville, but we stopped about halfway for a quick sleep at a cheap hotel and a dinner of TGI Fridays - nothing but first class!


Next up:

Parnassus Books (Nashville, TN) - Tuesday, 8/15 - w/ The Jeff Word

Barnes & Noble (Bowling Green, KY) – Wednesday, 8/16 – w/ J.H. Markert

Butcher Cabin Books (Louisville, KY) – Thursday, 8/17 – w/ J Todd Scott

Conquest Books (Ashland, KY) - Friday, 8/18 


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