At the roughest patches of the book writing process, I always envisioned the moment the completed book would be in my hands; what would I feel? Would it all be worth it? This weekend it finally happened in the seemingly out-of-place locale of Salt Lake City, Utah. Here's how it all went down--I knew I had to make the Outdoors Retailer Trade Show (thus the non-Colorado setting), either by driving or flying, no matter what cost. I had truly put my heart and soul into my book and it was imperative I be there at the release. As it turns out, I had to book a flight that left at 5:10 AM from Denver, to Phoenix, then over to Salt Lake. I opted to not sleep Thursday night into Friday, assuming correctly I would doze like a dead man on the plane rides. A series of events led me to having a place to stay at the Salt Lake City Motel 6, where for 70 dollars a night you can stay in a room whose ambiance could best be described as "black and white crime scene photo". Whatever, a stained bed with grimy sheets is still a place to stay.
Arriving at the show, I was able to hook up with the Wilderness Press crew. Ironically, all the three folks there I had not met in person, which is somewhat impressive considering it's a small company. Heather and Emily were there from WP and Rick D. was another author who's book on hiking Half-Dome is definitely worth checking out if you'll be in the area! Milling about the show floor while sleep deprived is an odd experience, but I ran into colleagues and friends all over the place. I also finally saw my book-- and it looks great! But since the official signing was a day away, I didn't indulge in the pages too much.
One thing that was nice is that I didn't have any industry obligations for the night, so I was free to go wild in Salt Lake City-- WOO-HOO! Heather and I opted to check out a minor league baseball game, the Salt Lake City Bees, which was the perfect way to spend a summer night. Gorging on hot dogs and nachos, we watched the Bees triumph over the (possibly) hated Portland Beavers. After that, we hooked up with Emily and hung out in the city, meeting up with folks and generally schmoozing. The break of the night was that both Heather and Emily had extra space in their rooms at the Holiday Inn, so even though I payed for the Motel 6 experience, I took them up on their offer to sleep in a rat-free environment. One thing that is nice about the Outdoors Industry is that people are laid back and generally cool about sharing space, food, etc. (I've certainly shared my rooms in the past). Of course being Utah, by Mormon law I may now officially be married to both Emily and Heather, which really isn't so bad, as long as my previous hotel-created wife Christina doesn't mind. :) heh!
As for Saturday, the book signing went great and was a lot of fun. If there's one thing I can do, it's talk about mountains. It's funny how I had scribbled my name in flowing cursive in notebooks in college, envisioning my grand book signings, imparting my fans with words of wisdom. In the end, I wrote sloppy signatures, but a GOOD sloppy, an excited sloppy! When all was said and done, I finished the afternoon schmoozing some more before flying back to Colorado saturday night. As if just to keep me humble, I had to pop-start my car at the airport, as I think the battery is fizzling out a little. Not the best thing to come home to but at least I know how to pop start a car.By the way, the pictures here are small and grainy because they were taken with a phone (thanks Heather!), as cameras are not technically allowed in the show without a special permit. The weird baby panda head comes from Emily, who inexplicably went out of her way to get the creepiest plastic product ever made. What's a book signing without a little nightmare fuel, eh?
So back in Boulder it's hot but all is well for the time being. Xanadu is happy I'm back and tomorrow I'll be celebrating the 2 year anniversary of my climb to the top of Mount Rainier with Sheila, so maybe it's a lucky week for me!
