The theme of my visit to Read Spotted Newt, the first bookstore ever in Hazard, Kentucky, was doing something I'd never done before. Spouse came along on this trip, and he had just listened to a podcast that looked at ways to keep long-term relationships healthy. After thirty years we do qualify as long-term, and while he's still my best friend, we're always up for hearing tips for the next thirty years. One of the big pieces of advice was to keep doing new things together, so more than once on our five hour drive we turned to each other and said, "Go to Hazard, Kentucky? That's something new!"

Now, I know what you're thinking, because we thought it, too: Like, Dukes of Hazzard? I had to look it up, but the show had two Zs, not one--though we found out, wandering around the city, that several stars of the series did visit this Hazard. I mean, what the hell, right? One z, or two, if someone is willing to pay for you to show up and smile a bit, you'd go, right?

The whole town is seven square miles, with a population of less than five thousand inhabitants. We were early, so strolled up and down the Main St. It was hard not to notice the few stray teens we saw walking, headphones on, disgruntled look on faces, NIRVANA or METALLICA shirts on, and hard not to imagine where they will head when high school is over. I also thought of Calvin; the hero of King Cal grew up in Mayo, Florida, who's population is just over a thousand, which means Hazard is almost five times as big.

I loved the booksellers of Read Spotted Newt. One month after they opened Hazard's first bookstore, the state shutdown thanks to Covid. Distanced sales and deliveries kept them going, and they even moved to a bigger space. We talked about need for more bookstores in Appalachia, what Demon Copperhead got right and less right about the region, and the devastating effects of the opioid crisis. We watched shoppers come in and out, but then when it came time for the event, well, it was quiet. As booksellers and authors everywhere know, this is sometimes what happens.

I was paired with Michael Amos Cody again, so he and I worked on our act. And why not? Two spouses plus two booksellers equals a crowd of four, and none of them had seem our literary/musical duet before. And I gotta say, a good time was had by all. Michael played two songs connected to his novel, and two from the Cal soundtrack, and we interviewed each other about our books. We're scheduled for a few more bookstores as a duo, so it was great practice. And then we signed books for stock, which, as readers of this tour blog already know, is a big part of the reason for going to any and all stores I can. They can't sell books they don't order, and they are also more likely to help these books find the right reader now that they've heard us talk about them.

Spouse and I spent the night in Knoxville: something else we had never done before! Had dinner on Market Square, which was a bustling downtown area, rows of restaurants on either side of a nice green space. We drove for seven hours, spent time in three states, and never got tired of talking to each other, so maybe that's the biggest key to a successful relationship—finding someone you like to hang out with.

We capped the night off with the biggest ice cream cone I've ever had. Strolling while eating helped justify completion, though. And it was a combo ice cream parlor/pharmacy, which means we could also stock up on our Chologestin before heading back to Atlanta.