Diary of a Book Tour

Monday March 17^th:  Suitcase packed, and ready for a two-week adventure called book tour.  On arrival at LaGuardia, I am quickly reminded that I am not of the Northeast anymore.  While not unfriendly, the fellow who assigns taxicabs does his job efficiently but with a grim face and dismissive gestures.  In Georgia, we would have been greeted with a “How y’all doing today?” and a big grin.

Same thing at the Marriott which is located right off Times Square.  The lady who registers Todd, my publicist and companion for this tour, and me wears her typical New York “don’t bother me” face until Todd mentions his special relationship with executive management at the hotel.  Bingo!  Name dropping gets you somewhere in the Big Apple!  Our upgraded rooms are essentially one-bedroom suites, who needs that much space?  As an ex European I am still appalled by the grandiosity with which we waste resources in this country.  More of that:  Two hours after we check in there is a knock on the door.  Technical personnel carts two HUGE flat screen TVs into my room to replace the BIG ones already in there.

Tuesday, March 18^th: Starting off the day with breakfast in the VIP lounge.  You need a pink key card to get admitted.  One can assume that only rather wealthy individuals and frequent travelers are allowed in.  All the more appalling to observe the crowd munching away at the free goodies:  Quite a few of them look like they just rolled out of bed and did not bother to change clothes, fix their hair, or God forbid, take a shower.  I have always maintained that the way you present yourself to the public sends a message how much you care about and appreciate others (or not).  Apparently, more and more of us don’t give a damn anymore – a symptom of a societal disease I call ACN – Advanced Collective Narcissism.

Two appearances on CNN this morning, one on their regular channel and the other on CNN International.  They were nice enough to send a limo to pick us up.  “New Day” with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota is the more interesting of the two because it is in studio.  Mr. Cuomo sounds exactly like his father and his brother.  He is quite sharp, and he presses me hard to buy into the Putin-Trump conspiracy.  I won’t give him that, and I believe he grudgingly respects me for that.

An apple for lunch and on to the next interview: The Eric Metaxas Show.  We tape two 40 minute segments.  What a brilliant fellow, this Eric guy!  The moment he said hello, he had no clue why he would want to talk to me – this gig was arranged by his producer.  So he spends two minutes perusing the book cover and off we go.  For the next 80 minutes, he then proceeds to talk himself and me through the entire book.  Todd tells me that this was the best radio interview he ever witnessed.  Eric and I exchange signed books, hopefully this is the beginning of a long-term friendship.

Thank God, I brought a light winter coat!  It is freezing in NYC, and we have to do a photoshoot on the Westside near the Hudson River.  The NY Post wants a picture of one of the signal sites I used when I first arrived in NYC.  I am used the procedure by now – a photographer may take over 100 pictures to find one good enough to be published.  In the meantime, I am freezing my butt off!

Dinner with Todd and my agent Eric Myers.  I collapse onto my luxurious king size bed at 10PM without turning on the monstrous TV set.

Wednesday, March 22^nd: First change in schedule: Varney and Company now want me in studio the following day.  So, we do some creative rescheduling and move the French folks into focus.  Where the heck did they come from?  France of course!  This is a crew of two who work for “France Channel 2”, the French equivalent of the BBC, who came all the way from Paris to do a feature on me, sort of 60 Minutes with French sub titles and on a tight budget!  We spend three hours in an apartment on the East Side to do a sit-down interview and then, oh horror, they insist on an outside shoot.  So off we go to Staten Island to film at Clove Lakes Park, the location of my only failed dead drop operation, which lead to my final decision to stay in the US.  It is freezing, and these guys won’t take no for an answer.  Most of the scenes have to be repeated several times – they even brought an old 80s vintage camera to make the scenes more authentic (i.e. grainy).

Finally, Todd and I get into a cab back to NYC where I join two old friends, Gabe and Kevin, for a well-deserved meal.  The huge TV screen does not see any action today either.

Thursday, March 23rd:  First cancellation – the Varney people don’t want me anymore.  Never feels good to be rejected, but the show must go on.  The French guys are back for more outside shooting.  And it is still COLD!   This time, I become the acting producer.  They want to shoot a reasonably realistic scene in which I am shown during an operation to detect surveillance.  I quickly identify a subway entrance and exit and a two-story Duane Reed (there is one on every block in Manhattan) to come up with a rather realistic setting.  I am still freezing!

Time to leave NYC and go on to (yet colder) Albany.  The drive north on Route 87 reminds me of the weekly commute I did on that road a few years ago.  Once there, the day is not over – two interviews with local TV stations.  It is really cold – well below freezing.  In the meantime, my wife Shawna tells me that the high for the day in Georgia was 82 degrees!

Friday., March 23^rd:   After a brief appearance on the #1 morning drive show and another TV interview, I take Todd to the airport and go on to Allentown PA.  I am staying at Joe Reilly’s house.  Ironically, he is the FBI agent who was the lead on my case and is now one of my best friends.  Dinner with Joe, his wife, and a couple of friends at the Lehigh Valley Country Club.  Somebody at an adjoining table recognizes Joe and me and sends over a bottle of champagne.  Occasionally, it pays to be a “celebrity”.

Saturday, March 24^th:  Joe and I are making a joint appearance at the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum.  Standing room only!  We have to do a second session for the overflow crowd.  Altogether, there were about 350 folks in the audience, and I sign close to 200 books.

Dinner with Joe Garrera, Executive Director of the museum , and some of his crew is delightful.  Joe R. and I are getting the red carpet treatment.  Sometimes it feels good to be a “celebrity”!

Sunday, March 25^th:  Hang out with my son Jessie and have him pay for dinner (good feeling if your child can do that for you).  Sunday and Monday were supposed to be days off, but not really.  I have several phone interviews (every interview is both interesting and a challenge, because invariably the interviewer will ask a question I never heard before and that requires me to do some thinking).  The decision to start an AMA session on Reddit at 8PM, blows up my “rest” schedule completely.  I stay on until midnight when the questions stop coming.  The next morning, I log on to the site and find several hundred more questions.  I call Jessie and ask how to react.  His initial response is: “It blew up!”  This session altogether collected 6,158 points, beating Lady Gaga by 49 points.

Tuesday, March 27^th: Drive to Washington DC and dinner with Dr. Art Lindsley, prolific author, and eminent Christian philosopher, and Nancy from Tyndale.  Food was okay but much overpriced.  Thank God, I don’t have to pay for this.

Wednesday, March 27^th: Deep breath – this is going to be the longest day of the tour.  It starts out with a men’s breakfast meeting at 6AM at McLean Bible Church.  After the event the organizer shares with me that they had record attendance and that I changed some lives with my testimony.  What a blessing to be able to touch people in that way!

On to the International Spy Museum where I do a Podcast (they call it Spycast) with Dr. Vince Houghton.  Then onto an onstage taped interview.  Lunch is cancelled because CNN wants me in their studio.  On the way to the studio I give a quick interview to a journalist who writes for the Smithsonian Magazine.  The CNN thing turned out to be a torture hardly worth it.  I am one of four guests who are supposed to respond to an ongoing Senate press conference.  But that is no studio I am sitting in!  I am staring at a camera positioned on the open floor with people left and right of me chatting up a storm.  To try to take in what is being said by the two senators and how offer a thoughtful response takes a lot of energy, which I do not seem to have any more.   Finally, the press conference is over, and now it is time to say something intelligent.  Alas, the conference ran over and CNN is hard pressed for time.  So, I get exactly one question and give a 30 second answer.  Three hours’ worth of time and a skipped lunch for 20 seconds of “fame”.

Last stop of the day, the Smithsonian for an on-stage interview, again conducted by Dr. Houghton, and a subsequent book signing.  The event, which was sold out a month in advance, was a great success.

Thursday, March 28^th: Dog tired – but the show must go on.  Driving up to Albany in lousy weather and with some traffic problems.  Several phone calls during the drive, one turned into a lengthy interview with the London Times.  When I finally have time to listen to the radio, I pick up Rush Limbaugh talking at length about the TV series ‘The Americans’.  I am desperately trying to call into his show to tell him, “never mind ‘The Americans’, you are talking to the real deal here”.  Of course, I am not getting through.

Just make it in time for the book signing at Barnes and Noble.  Again, no time for dinner, a sandwich has to do.  B&N had ordered 100 books, and they sold out……  It was good to see some old friends.  It was also interesting to note who did not bother to come.  After the “show” I hang out for a while with Angela, a friend from my time in the Albany area, and Dr. Zieker, the ophthalmologist who gave me my sight back (cataract surgery).

Friday March 29^th:  Book tour officially over.  Driving down to Newark (in heavy cold rain) to pick up wife and Trinity to spend a weekend in the Princeton area.  I REALLY NEED A REST NOW!