One of my musician friends called after he’d finished KING CAL. We talked about our own experiences, the parts of the book that had worked best for him, what lessons we may have learned from fifty years of playing music. He enjoyed the book, he said, “But after I finished it, I still wondered why the fuck anyone would want to do this.”

The “this” referred to Calvin’s determination to make a career as a songwriter and musician. It could apply to anyone trying to create art of any kind—or, more specifically, someone trying to create and then find a way to get it out into the world. Calvin would face one kind of struggle if he was just creating music for himself; it’s his desire to find a way to get the rest of the world to hear that creates new struggles.

That question was on my mind as I hit two cities in North Carolina, Wake Forest and Greensboro. The first day of this three-day trip was the first time I felt tired enough to question my sanity. I drove five hours to Greensboro to drop off my bags, then ninety minutes to Page 158 in Wake Forest for the event. The store is fantastic, and the staff engaged and helpful, but the day before they’d had an author with a much bigger name than mine, and four people showed up, The severe weather alert, warning of intense thunder storms and flooding, had not helped, the store explained, and the same warnings had just been issued again. Luckily, the daughter of a bestie lives nearby, and brought her fiancee. Those two and a couple of staff meant my audience was also four, and I did wonder, for a moment there, if the eight hours in a car had been a smart move.

But that, dear reader, was me forgetting the pact I made myself at the start of the King Cal Tour: I promised I would always try to remember to zoom out as much as I zoomed in. Turned out the store manager had not only read CAL (not something many bookstore people do, for reasons I certainly understand—so many many books), she liked it enough to recommend it to customers, and had prepared some thoughtful questions for our discussion. Then I signed ten copies for the store, which is a larger number than usual. (Remember, Fans of Capitalism: signed copies cannot be sent back to the publisher, and are those indie author gold.) Said manager seemed to genuinely enjoy the night, and even hugged me goobye (which is less common than a bookseller who has time to read the book).

I woke up refreshed the next morning, and had a day without any driving. I wandered around Greensboro, easily crushing my 10,000 steps before lunch. I had a sudden desire for soup, and found a place that modeled itself after a French bistro and delivered one of the best bowls of Potato Leek Soup I have ever had. And that baguette! Come on, people: toasted to perfection.

People do “this” for many reasons. Calvin's reasons took me 75,000 words or so to explore, but mine are a bit more simple. I like to write books. I like to help people who may like to read my books find my books. I like to travel. And I like discovering a perfect bowl of soup in a city I have never been to before.

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