Biography

Day 1 of tour -- Book signing at the Relay for Life event in Hemet. Heather Bennett (one of my warriorettes) had invited me to be a part of this. What a day! I met so many wonderful people who were out there to help make a difference in people's lives. I'll never forget it. Thanks for the invite, Heather. I hope to make this a regular event.

Day 4 of Karen Kay/Gen Bailey's Author's Tour Diary.
Terrific signing today at the Barnes & Noble in Manhattan Beach. Had many wonderful chats with several different people and feel much more enlightened than when I started the day. One kind sister-in-law came and bought a book for her brother's wife. And a romance reader from the past came by and bought a romance book -- am so glad to have met her. I loved our conversation. And I met someone from England today, who was a pretty on the outside as she was on the inside. And of course there was the security guard who I talked with quite a bit while I was there. I believe he will make some young woman a very good husband some day.

And of course there was the Community Relations Manager. who goes out of her way to do good work for her community. What a pleasure meeting her. It was a good day. A very good day. Thanks to all who came out to share it with me. And of course here's a picture -- followed by a few more of the day today.

And here's another picture. We were both surprised to see each other again, because she was also at the meeting with the reader's group on Wednesday.

Oh, and here's a book signing picture -- taken today at RWA/OCC.

Tuesday, April 13th. Visited many stores today to sign stock -- whatever of my books they had on hand. Often called a "drive-by." Highlight of the day was coming back home to chat on Coffee Time Romance. Met lots of people and other authors. I love these kinds of chats. Do you?

I can't believe I forgot to take pictures at the library -- but I did remember to get a picture taken at Paperback Emporium in Santa Clarita. Not the picture is quite distored -- not sure why it looks like our faces, as well as the window is curving in on itself. But here we are today at The Paperback Emporium.

Karen Kay/Gen Bailey's daily tour diary. Well today was a good day. Today was the day when we did the blog at FallenAngelReviews.com, where we had two winners for a free give-away. Then it was back to the streets, going to different bookstores and then tonight was a lecture at the Silver Lake Library on How to Write a Romance.

 

Friday, April 16th. It was a gorgeous day in Hemet, CA. Not only was the day gorgeous, I was privileged to meet many different people today. I'm going to be posting 2 different pictures, and so I'll tell the story with each picture. Here's Kristina Lee-Lindholm on the left and Heather Bennett on the right. Both are friends I met at the Relay for Life and Heather is also a Warriorette.

Looking at the picture above I am struck by how pretty both Kristina and Heather are. Now this next picture is of Ron Cameron of Cameron books and Isabella. I don't know her last name. Both made me feel particularly welcome and Isabella went out of her way, getting treats of cookies and crackers and cheese, orange juice and even some wine... It was very, very special.

Today was a book signing in Bakersfield at Russo's books. This has to be one of the most exciting stores I've seen. Let me tell you a little about it. First, they really try to give back to the community. They have poetry reading open mic, signings, a place for artists to show their work, a place for children to come. It's like the old days when the was real community. Wow! Here's a picture of me today with Mike Russo and Tony Russo.

Today, Sunday, was the Romance Writer's of America (Los Angeles chapter) meeting. Featuring Niki -- forgive me, Niki, your last name escapes me right now -- talking about flash fiction. Fascinating. We held a book signing shortly after the meeting -- and then it was off to travel around to other book stores and sign books. Here's a picture of some of the LARA members.

Tour...tour...tour notes. The schedule can sometimes be tough, and a little exhausting. Often, I wish I could just come home and go to bed -- but it's rarely possible. In fact, I've never been able to come home and flop into bed. I usually have to unwind -- and besides, there other things to do -- things that need getting done for the next day, animals to be gotten into the house, and fed and exercise... Here's a photo taken at the end of the day last night.

Here's another picture from the book signing today at Sunshine books. I do think that the very best thing about touring when a new book comes out, is that you get a chance to go and meet readers and really talk to them. Gosh, it was a wonderful day!

After visiting many, many book stores on Saturday (what we call drop ins), we relaxed at the Grand Opening of the newly renovated quarters of my church in Los Angeles, The Los Angeles Church of Scientology. In this picture, we're in the Purification area, where a person is very carefully guided through a detox program. It's a program designed to drive deposits of drugs that have lodged in the fatty tisuue out of the body. But it's not simply a detox program, it's a very spiritually enlightening program. Here's this beautiful room, newly done.

And here's some more photos from Russo's Books.

And here's another photo, where I was chatting with a beuatiful artist. Also at Russo's Books.

Daily life of an author on tour. What a wonderful day today. Clear, blue skies with wispy little clouds in the sky and I met a beautiful author today. She'd sent me an invitation to her book signing on Facebook and it was close-by to me and so I went to meet her and get a present for one of my daughter's birthday (up and coming soon). Catherine Bybee, a talented and beautiful young writer. And I now have her book to share. : )

Then of course, it was treking to book stores, signing copies of their books and meeting some terrific booksellers. Tomorrow is a booksigning in National City -- Borders. If you're in the area, stop on by. The picture was taken today at Catherine's book signing

San Diego is a bit of a drive for me and the drive home in the evening was busy, busy, busy. I'm always so glad to get off the 5 freeway. Okay, so Sunday was a catch-my-breath day. Today I'm blogging at www.ridingwiththetopdown.blogspot.com -- and I'm giving away a free copy of ...this most recent release, SENECA SURRENDER. So come on over and leave a post.

The Daily Meanderings of an Author on Tour. The picture, by the way is from Saturday's book signing at Borders Books in National City. This particular reader was delightful -- we talked on and on. And then today was the Riding With the Top Down blog. By the way, Tanya and Sharon are winners of the free give-away book. So do contact me.

Tomorrow is a book signing/discussion at the Book Rack in

Today was another long drive, but in another direction -- over to La Quinta -- a little past Palm Springs. Goodness, but it was a beautiful drive, even if the freeways were busy. And the air was warm, fresh and pure. The wind gentle.

This was a signing/reader's group -- it was fun and exciting. Met wonderful, wonderful people, who had never before read a romance novel. Wow, the feed back was incredible. Everyone loved it! My thanks to the owner of the store, Holly. This is a picture of after the book signing.

And here's another view. Oh, by the way, I'm doing a blog at romconblog on Friday. I'll be giving away another free copy of one of my books -- probably SENECA SURRENDER. But more about that later. Here's another view of this wonderful bookstore.

Yesterday, Sunday was not only Mother's day, but it was birthday day. Grandfather George turns 90 tomorrow and my husband's birthday is coming up soon, too. So, because I'll be out of town (I'm going to Houston for a booksigning there), we celebrated yesterday. Must admit to spending about 8 hours in the kitchen, cooking, baking, etc. But it was all worth it.

BOOKSIGNING! You're invited! Where? Gracie's Book Nook, 1722-C Sweetwater Road, National City, CA 91950. When? This Saturday, June 12th, 2011, at 12:30PM - 3:30 PM. Come on out and say hello! I'd love to chat with you!

t was a terrific book signing! And a great success! Gracie's Book Nook is quite a book store, located as it is in National City, CA. We had some great talks, signed some books and made some wonderful memories.

This past weekend, my husband and I had the pleasure of attending a Constitution class with Constitution scholar, Michael Badnarik. Here are a series of pictures from the class.

Below is a picture of Michael teaching the class. Here is Michael at a restaurant after the class -- still teaching.

Here's another picture at that restaurant.

And finally, I got to have my picture taken with Michael, himself. It was a terrific weekend and wow, what a class. Many cherished myths were examined and discarded as I learned more and more about what kind of government our founding fathers really created -- and it wasn't a Democracy, as we often think of it -- rather, they created a Constitutional Republic, which is governed by the Rule of Law. He made a subject come alive.