On the long train trip from Toronto to Ottawa, temperatures outside reached nearly 100°F, which strained the compartment’s air-conditioning abilities.  As we traveled across the Ontario wetlands, we attempted to do a last-minuted radio interview on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which they had set up only an hour earlier.  The interview was live, on our cell phones, with the background noise of the train whistle and the conductor’s announcements; we got partway through the show, but then we permanently lost the signal.  I hope the host made appropriate excuses. The train was half an hour late, which gave us a...
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I’m writing this on the train from Toronto to Ottawa for this evening’s event, where Brian and I are guest lecturers at the Ottawa Writer’s Conference.  Sitting next to me, Brian is busily editing his HELLHOLE chapters; I received two more transcribed chapters from my typist by e-mail this morning and just finished cleaning them up.  With our non-stop schedule, we have to catch a few minutes of productivity wherever we can. Yesterday, leaving Cleveland, the publisher had again set me up for a quick flight, while Brian had a driver take him to Buffalo (since he prefers not to...
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After our signings in the Washington, DC, area Brian and I left for our next stop, Pittsburgh.  Early morning, I headed off to the airport for the short flight, while the car came to pick up Brian for the drive (in such short distances, the timing was about the same).  We both arrived in Pittsburgh, PA, a surprisingly beautiful city with far more than its share of bridges.  The Allegheny and Menonghela Rivers converge here into the Ohio River; most of the steel mills have shut down, and Pittsburgh has some of the greenest, hilliest landscape of any urban complex...
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  The Fairmont Hotel in downtown Washington DC had an excellent fitness center and gym, much more than just a couple of treadmills and ellipticals.  I had never even seen some of the types of weight machines before.  I was able to get in a couple of good workouts, particularly for my legs (keeping in shape to catch up on my hiking … if the weather is still good by the time I get home to Colorado). Working on the train en route to Washington DC Our media escort Edie picked us up and drove us to Quantico, the main...
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