Tonight at 7PM I’ll be at the RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, NH. For event information, check out this link from their website.

Portsmouth is a great city  with a lot to offer. Looking forward to swinging by and saying hello. Hope you’ll come out and say hello, too!

Tonight at 7 PM I’ll be at the St. Louis County Library in St. Louis, MO. For more information, check out this link from their website.

Hope to see you there!

I’ll be at the Barnes & Noble behind the North Shore Mall (210 Andover Street). I’ll be talking about The Map of True Places and taking questions on The Lace Reader. I’ll also be signing both books so please stop by if you are in the area.

I’ll be at Malaprops Bookstore. I hope to see you there.

Thanks to the great people at Quail Ridge book store for a wonderful event last night. Not only did I come home with a great book on Italian Hotels, but Tim recommended some wonderful blue grass music for our drive today to Charlotte. What a fabulous book store!

We’re off to Charlotte now. I will be at Joseph Beth book store tonight at 7PM to talk about The Map of True Places. If you’re in the area, and have a free evening, please come.

Okay Salem, you are my beloved home, but you are sorely lacking in one thing: Grits! This morning, I did a radio segment with Dr. Alvin Augustus Jones on WCBQ AM in North Carolina. Always inspiring! After that, I ordered a room service breakfast (one of the many fun things about being on book tour). And, long story short, they sent me grits. I love grits. I love everything about them. As a person of Irish decent, I’ve had the unusual and sad experience of being allergic to potatoes. Don’t even say it. No one is allergic to potatoes. It’s ridiculous. But, even if I weren’t allergic, I would prefer grits to potatoes every time.

So Salem, here is my proposal: I think we should become the grits capital of the Northeast. We should serve grits with breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’m sure that the Grits Council of America, if there is such a thing, would be proud and happy to help promote Salem as Grittiest City in the Northeast. I will certainly do my part to help with this endeavor. And, on the off chance that Salem doesn’t go for my brilliant proposal, can someone please tell me of a restaurant in the Northeast where I can get a good bowl of grits?

I’ll in the Carolinas this week! Five events – Monday through Friday. Hope to see you there!

Monday 5/16: 7:30 PM @ Quail Ridge Books & Music: Raleigh, NC

Tuesday 5/17: 7 PM @ Joseph-Beth Booksellers: Charlotte, NC

Wednesday 5/18: 7 PM @ Malaprops Bookstore: Asheville, NC

Thursday 5/19: 7:30 PM @ Books-A-Million: Charleston, SC

Friday 5/20: 12 PM @ Sea Pines Country Club: Hilton Head Island, SC

Come join me in Newburyport, MA, tomorrow, April 23, for the Newburyport Literary Festival!

I’ll be on a panel called “A Sense of Place” with Aine Greaney, moderated by Elizabeth Barrett, bright and early at 9 AM. There are multiple venues downtown, with many presenters. You can view the schedule here. It’s bound to be a blast. It’s an all-day event, so come for the whole day, or stop by for part of it. Although the schedule doesn’t specify, I’ve heard directly from the folks at the festival that each event should be expected to run for about an hour in length.

Hope to see you all there! There just isn’t anything quite like the North Shore in spring.

Brunonia Barry on \’The Map of True Places\’

Click on the link above for a personal message from me!

It’s two weeks away from the release of my new book! Be sure to check back in next week for a reading guide that will be posted for book groups. Next month I’ll be on tour (the tour dates are below, in an earlier post) and I can’t wait to see you on the road.

Here’s to the final count down!

Brunonia