Monthly Archives: June 2011

Thursday, June 9: Austin

Hotel lobby, Portland: 4:45a.m. Actually more like 4:50, because this time I was the one who was 5 minutes late, and when I arrive in the lobby everyone is on their phones trying to reach me. (Eek!) We book it to the airport, and jump on a plane for Salt Lake City, and as I sit down next to my row-mate, she asks me if I’m traveling for business. READ MORE…

Wednesday, June 8: Portland

Another pre-dawn wakeup. Another early morning work-out at the Westin O’Hare hotel gym…this time with a lot of sweaty businessmen. By 8:45 I was piling my luggage into Bill’s van and heading for the airport. My fellow Dark Daysers and I accompanied each other through security checks and hung out chatting until it was time to get onto the plane, READ MORE…

Tuesday, June 7, Chicago

At 5:15 we were all back in the lobby, and then herded out to the car by Bill, our media escort. This time I got to ride in front with him, and used my forty minutes wisely, discovering that he had been a media escort for 24 years. That his wife is an author. That he had escorted J.K. Rowling a couple of times, as well as Neil Gaiman, which got a squeal out of the group’s Neil fans who had overheard. READ MORE…

Tuesday, June 7: Chicago

I slept well, knowing that I would receive a wakeup call at 8am the next morning, and awoke to…darkness. My brain, still running on French time, had decided to give me a 5am wakeup call. I spent the next hour answering emails, and at 6a.m. ordered breakfast from room service. READ MORE…

Monday, June 6: Chicago

Recuperated from my France-to-Chicago flight at the beach with my best friend Kim and her family. At the end of the day, the taxi I ordered to take me to the Dark Days Tour hotel couldn’t find me because apparently Lake Michigan is not a valid address. READ MORE…