Release day of Hellhole.  With a full day ahead of me, I took care of email early in the morning, posted a new blog, finished a few last-minute edits on a new novel manuscript and then sent the file to my agent, and headed out the door by 9:30 so I could be at my first bookstore stop for the day, a Borders on the south side of the Denver metropolitan area.

Jeana, my author escort for the day, met me at the store just after it opened at 10 AM; the store had already pulled all of my various titles from the shelves (Dune, Seven Suns, Terra Incognita, Star Wars, and anything else they had in stock), as well as Hellhole.  I met the store manager, autographed all the books, and we also slipped in new bookmarks we’d had printed: the full Brian & Kevin Dune backlist on one side, and Hellhole on the other side.  The idea was to bring draw the fans of all my books to look at Hellhole.

Yes, the hand really is a blur

Kiernan Maletsky, a journalist for Denver’s Westword magazine, met us at the store to do an interview, but rather than sitting down and asking questions, he decided to shadow us for three of the drop-by signings.  We chatted, and he conducted the interview as we went to the next two stores, meeting the managers, signing the backlist books as well as the new Hellhole copies, adding bookmarks to all the copies, placing an “Autographed Copy” sticker on each book.  Jeana, Kiernan, and I had a nice assembly line going, with assistance from the bookstore staff.

with Kiernan Maletsky at Barnes & Noble

Kiernan finished his interview after tagging along for three stars, and we dropped him off back at his car, then we were off to other parts of the Denver area, and then up to Boulder.  We ate a quick lunch at Chipotle (yes, Tor Books would have paid for a nice sit-down lunch, but we didn’t want to take the time: we had eleven bookstores to hit and many miles to cover).  We circled back to Denver, store after store, and our pace slowed as the rush-hour traffic built.  At one Barnes & Noble in Aurora, CO, I was signing copies at the front desk when a customer called in to ask if Hellhole was available for sale yet and could he reserve a copy.  (He was quite surprised when I took the phone and said Hi to him.)  After hitting all eleven bookstores, signing 120 hardcover copies of Hellhole and hundreds of other books, I got back to my car by 6 PM, and I picked up some PF Changs hot-and-sour soup for dinner.

Now, what I did all day were “drop-by” signings—not formal events, just stopping into the store to meet the staff and autograph the books they had on hand.  My formal Denver signing event will be next Thursday, March 24, at the Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch, CO.

Tomorrow, I leave early in the morning to fly to Seattle for my first formal talk and booksigning, at University Books in the evening.

For those of you in the Denver area, these are the stores where I left autographed copies today:

BORDERS

Park Meadows
8557 Park Meadows Center Dr.
Lone Tree, CO 80124
303.708.1735

BARNES AND NOBLE

Downtown
Entertainment and Fashion Pavilion
500 16 Street
Denver, CO 80202
303-825-9166

960 S Colorado Blvd
Glendale, CO 80246
303-691-2998

Aurora City Center
170 S. Abilene St.
Aurora, CO 80012
303-340-4475

Denver West Village
14347 West Colfax Avenue
Lakewood, CO 80401
303-215-9060

9370 Sheridan Blvd
Westminster, CO 80030
303-426-7733

Chanson Plaza
8136 West Bowles Avene
Littleton, CO 80123
303-948-9565

Arapahoe Marketplace
8555 East Arapahoe Road
Greenwood Village, CO 80112
303-796-8851

701 E. 120th Avenue
Thornton, CO 80233
720-872-2619

Shoppes at the Meadows
8374 S. Willow Street
Lone Tree, CO 80124
303-706-9660

2999 Pearl Street
Boulder, CO 80301
303-444-0349