Woooooooo! Final day was a doozy! We got up at sunrise and headed north, singing “Get Out of Denver” by Bob Seger. I’ve always found that song amusing because of the “Baptist preachin’ southern funky school teacher.” Drove all the way up to Laramie, Wyoming, because mi madre wanted to do some research at the American Heritage Center located at the University of Wyoming. We left her there and drove over to the Hastings store, where they had a few copies of my books in stock and I signed ’em. I chatted with the nice folks there and blogged about the prior night’s shenanigans in Denver; now I’m in the Denver Airport bloggin’ about the shenanigans in Ft. Collins.

We found a place to park and walked back to where the signing was to be held, and ran across THIS sign:

So we had to go in and chat! Turns out this is a different branch o’ the family that split off looong ago, all the Hearnes in America being descended from three brothers. My branch migrated south and then west, her branch migrated west directly from Maryland and kinda spread out from there. So we’re cousins 25 times removed or something. It did my heart glad to know that the business is a green one. :)

So! Old Firehouse Books. AWESOME STORE. Used to be a firehouse in the 19th century and they still have the little pole to slide down to prove it. Here’s what it looks like—it’s on Walnut Street across from Hearne’s:

And look what they did for me!!! I hereby dub this the coolest sandwich board thingie ever!

OK, so, a little bit about this place. First, the Sci-Fi/Fantasy shelf is A HUUUGE TRACT OF LAND and it’s in the front of the store WHERE IT BELONGS! The staff knows the genre well and they are now my Special Nerd Friends. Shall I show you a shiny picture?

I should probably warn people to wear sunglasses if they’re going to see me in person, because I’ve learned on this trip that my head is a highly reflective surface. Standing to my left in the red shirt is Jacqie, the manager, and she has a shiny triskele pendant from Ireland (as in she bought it in Ireland)! To Jacqie’s left is Tara, the graphics guru for the store, and she has a CRYSTAL D10 DIE around her neck! Are these my people or what! Not only are Jacqie and Tara turbocool, but I have to give shout-outs to Revati and Beth who were also every bit as delightful. I got to meet lots of spiffy people and chat with them a bit, like Chelsea and Jim (who got my wife to sign my books as well), and Josh was wearing a shirt I just had to give him props for:

After the signing, we repaired to Coopersmith’s Brewery. You might have thought I’d be doing New Belgium or Odell’s, but both of those distribute their beers in Arizona and I’ve already tried them. I wanted something new, and besides, it was just a short walk from the store. I sampled five beers:

I’ve forgotten the fancy names for the first two beers; on the left we have a really drinkable unfiltered wheat beer that I ordered a flagon of. The kolsch was very good but I think I’m partial to the Sunbru Kolsch at Four Peaks Brewery back in Tempe. Now, the Poudre. Let me tell you about the Poudre (pronounced POO der). It’s really, really fun to say. The Poudre River runs through Ft. Collins. There are signs throughout the town that say, “Save the Poudre,” and it’s really hard to argue with a sentiment that sounds so much fun. Buuuuut I didn’t like this particular brew very much. One sip and I was done. The Bitter wasn’t bitter at all, it was actually amazingly tasty, and I almost ordered a flagon of that, but a coin toss gave the win to the wheat beer. The Horsetooth was also very good, sweet and shudder-free. After the disappointment of having all my beer STOLEN by Mario in Denver (see previous post), this was quite refreshing.

Even more refreshing than the beer, however, was the company. Tara, Jacqie, Revati and Stina joined us from the bookstore, and together we flashed our Nerd Cred at each other. Tara, for example, was a poetry major, and she recited “I Sing the Body Electric” and gained much admiration thereby and a few worried glances. She is also developing her own roleplaying game system—hence the D10 necklace. You never know when you’re going to need one when you’re a game developer. She is awesome.

Stina turned out to be a type nerd! She can tell you the difference between a widow and an orphan in typography (can you do that without looking it up?), and together we determined that people who abuse Comic Sans and Papyrus might be tearing a hole in the fabric of space-time. Here are a couple o’ my new friends at Coopersmiths:

‘Twas a glorious tour through Colorado. I think I’ll do this again next year, coming back to see the swell people at the bookstores but trying out different breweries. It’s not like Colorado is going to run out of them. When I go back to Denver, I will hire a ninja to guard my beer from Mario.

Roundup o’ news really quick before I board my plane: I’m giving away five signed author copies of HAMMERED to those who enter The Drop Your Sword Contest; you have until Wednesday! Orbit UK has now acquired The Iron Druid Chronicles, and I have a big announcement coming on Monday!

I want to thank all the lovely people in Colorado (and the few I saw in Wyoming) for being such lovely human beings. It was my pleasure to meet you!

DENVER, baby! Yeah!

The signing and such wasn’t scheduled until later that night, so we had the day to mess around. Took the Kid to the Denver Zoo because they have awesome critters there and they’re the greenest zoo in the United States. They’re also more involved in species preservation than any other zoo I know of. They had a baby komodo dragon! Baby this, baby that…might have a baby snow leopard someday if they’re lucky, because they have a pair! Animal pics follow, click to enlarge:

After the zoo it was time to head over to the Broadway Book Mall. It’s the coolest wee store I’ve ever seen—Nina was so kind and welcoming and she knows what’s important. She has a shelf for ZOMBIE LITERATURE, my friends. This store rocks! She also had a signed copy of The Wise Man’s Fear, so I had to buy it. She has signed stuff from Carrie Vaughn, Connie Willis, and more; honestly, if you’re in Denver, you gotta go check this place out.

I met some great local authors n’ artists—shout out to Bonnie and Laura! And a couple of my dear yearbookin’ friends stopped by and made my day, because I haven’t seen them for a couple of years. When it comes to my nerdhood, I specialize in several fields. Yearbook nerds are called Yerds and we obsess over things like ligatures and Photoshop filters. It makes us happy. See how happy we are?

This was also my opportunity to meet a couple members of The League of Reluctant Adults for the first time, Mario Acevedo and Jeanne Stein! We promptly misbehaved. Or rather, Mario did. Here is the soon-to-be-famous Grope Attempt:

Jeanne was about to whip out her kung fu after that. Mario’s lucky she left her shank at home.

Mario promised to behave after that, but Jeanne still wanted to express herself in a dignified manner.

We went to The Great Divide Brewing Co. tap room after the signing, and here are the samplers of their beers:

They look good, and the one I’m excited about is the Chocolate Oak Aged Yeti, which you see on the far right. I tried it and it’s a heavy drink, hints of both chocolate and coffee to it, 9.5% alcohol content. It’s something to sip and enjoy, not chug. Unfortunately, I can’t say anything about the other beers because MARIO DRANK THEM ALL and I couldn’t order more, since these were ordered on Last Call! Yes, he stole my beer. Brazenly. In a Hawaiian shirt. Proof:

Oh well, at least I can report that the Yeti is good! I had a great time last night and now I’m writing this in Laramie, Wyoming, at the Hastings store here. It’s a cool town! I signed their stock and chatted with the nice people who work here. After another hour or so I’m headed back down to Ft. Collins for a signing at Old Firehouse Books.

I really dig Denver…wish I could explore some more. Methinks I might do this again next summer, it’s been so much fun! More later on Ft. Collins!

Today was a looong drive from Ouray to Colorado Springs—a completely beautiful drive, mind you, with so many lovely things waiting for me when I finally made it to the Springs. But first! Did you know that Gunnison is a pretty spiffy little town? We got there too early for me to check this place out properly, but I bet there’s something nummy inside:

There was a really cool indie bookstore right across the street from this place, making it the perfect one-two combo for this particular tour. :) It’s called The Bookworm, and I got to meet the owner, Kristyn, who was super nice and apparently shares my love of maps. I wished I could have stayed in town longer, but I had to keep motorin’ like Sister Christian. (That was a pander to the vast Night Ranger demographic.) Anyway, here’s Kristyn’s lovely store:

So I got to the Springs just in time, and Jessica at the Borders on Southgate Road was turbo helpful. Once I was all set up, one of my former students came in! She just moved to the Springs after graduation and I was so happy to see her!

That Borders still has some signed copies of both Hounded and Hexed available, so do drop in if you can!

After the books, it was time to get my beer on. I went to visit Bristol Brewing Company because they, like me, happen to like doggies. They have a brew called Laughing Lab Scottish Ale, an eight-time award winner for good reason. Excellent stuff! The big surprise for me was how good their honey wheat beer was. But before I go on about it, here’s what I sampled:

OK, going clockwise and ending in the center: Compass IPA, Beehive Honey Wheat, Laughing Lab Scottish Ale, Mass Transit Ale, Yellow Kite Summer Pils, and their Black Fox Faustian Saison.

Since I mentioned last post that I’m not generally a fan of ambers and IPAs—an idiosyncrasy of my tastes—I’m always impressed when I can find one that I wouldn’t mind drinking for a while. Compass IPA was one of those; it had a really interesting taste owing to the blend of hops they use, but it didn’t have the unpleasant aftertaste that makes me avoid IPAs as a rule. Great crisp finish.

For me the winner on this tray is the Beehive Honey Wheat. I wan’t expecting it to rock so much, but it does, friends, it does. If you like wheat beers, make the trip. Worth the drive.

Laughing Lab is an outstanding ale that made me wonder why I don’t drink Scottish ales more often, other than the obvious reason that I’m Irish. Very tasty.

I fear I can’t give you a fair evaluation of Mass Transit since I’m not a fan of ambers in general; it would be like asking someone with a fear of heights if they’d like to take a ride on a ski lift.

Both the Yellow Kite Pils and the Black Fox Faustian were very palatable, and judging by the Yellow Kite shirts I saw people wearing, they’re quite popular brews locally. But look, I have to tell you what else is awesome about this place besides the beer: Scott and Kevin.

Scott and Kevin were a couple o’ cool dudes I met at the bar who were ready to share their personal beer histories. Listening to them was kind of like watching Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias sing “To All the Beers I’ve Loved Before.” Kevin is of the opinion that there is some seriously amazing shit going on down at Pagosa Springs, and based on his recommendation, I will make sure I go there next time I do a tour like this. He also told me that Bristol makes a pumpkin beer that doesn’t suck even a little bit. It’s shoulder-to-shoulder in there when they tap the few kegs they make in October, and it’s all gone in a couple o’ days. Scott, for his part, shared with me the revelation that there is a beer out there that tastes like pecan pie. PECAN PIE. I will be making a pilgrimage soon, methinks.

When I finally got back to my hotel I was overwhelmed by kind wishes and kinder reviews for Hexed, and I also got some fabulous news that I’ll share in a few days. It’s been a completely glorious day.

OK, I have to get some shut-eye because I have Denver on June 8! If you can make it to Who Else! Books in the Broadway Book Mall at 7:30, I’d love to meet you! Cheers!

Today was the cushy day; I had no book events to do. That doesn’t mean I’m not doing book-related business. This blog is kinda booky, wouldn’t you say? I also need to write another post for the League of Reluctant Adults tomorrow. Plus an interview with Suvudu…all book-related business, just conducted outside of bookstores and in a place that’s so dear to me that I’d call it sacred geography. I’m talkin’ ’bout Ouray, Colorado.

I’m writing from room 215 at the Ouray Victorian Inn. It has a balcony overlooking the Uncompahgre River, supafly wifi and the ability to grant you Inner Peace. Driving here was lovely. You get vistas like this:

And you run across these beautiful lakes near 10,000 feet surrounded by snow-capped geological events and trees:

So when you put me near all these trees and they smell like the way the world used to, I’m going to have to hug one. It’s mandatory.

Got into town and went straight to the Ouray Brewery, which wasn’t here the last time I was in town about five years ago. They built it in this old building and it has two floors plus rooftop drinkin’. Here ’tis from the side:

So, you walk in, and RIGHT AWAY you know this place is going to rock, because they have swing seats at the bar and people are friendly.

You can get a sampler thingie of their beers, so I did. Right now they have a guest beer from Odell Brewing in Ft. Collins called Easy Street Wheat. I actually featured that one in a Still Life with Dwarfs and Beer some time ago, so no need to rehash that; Ouray Brewery is working on a porter for that last slot but it wasn’t quite ready on the day I walked in, hence the guest beer. Here’s the lineup:

OK, straight up, I’m not a guy whose palate particularly enjoys Ambers or IPAs, but these were actually drinkable for me. That’s an accomplishment in itself. They’re all very, very good, but if I have to rank ’em 1-5 (which I don’t, but I’m gonna) based on my own preferences, I’d go with Saison #1, Kolsch #2, IPA #3, Pale Rye #4, and Amber #5. But see, everyone’s different. My mom tried these too and she’d rank the Amber #1. You can’t go wrong visiting this place, honestly, it’s all good. I picked the Saison for my full pint, which is a spring seasonal they have vaguely reminiscent of Blue Moon but A BAJILLION TIMES BETTER! They put three malts in it and then finish it with three different hops plus oranges. It’s yummy. That was my accompaniment for the bison burger I ordered with a side o’ sweet potato wedges. NOMNOMNOM.

I love this town so much. Beauty everywhere you look. I mean, here’s the view from my hotel room:

Look at this cool little dude I spotted hangin’ out in a tree near Box Canyon Falls—I think he’s a woodpecker of some kind but I’m not sure. If it’s fancier than sparrows or quail then I kind of suck at identifying birds, but I love to take pics of cool ones when I can.

You want to see the river behind my hotel, right? I know you do. This is the Uncompahgre, swollen with runoff and doin’ its best to cut the canyon deeper:

OK, gotta write my other stuff now. Tomorrow (June 7) is HEXED Day and I’ll be signing at the Borders in Co. Springs at 3 pm! If you know anyone there, send ’em over to say hi!

Whew! Long day, but you know what? The wifi in THIS hotel rocks, so I’m going to get to show you some more pictures than yesterday! At least one more, anyway…

T0day’s trip was to Durango, and we did the beer first and the books later. Durango is home to Ska Brewing, Steamworks Brewing, Durango Brewing, and Carver Brewing. It was to the latter we repaired for our repast. Carver has been solar powered for some years now, so the treehugger in me appreciated that. They have a neato patio, great breakfast there, and plenty o’ great beers. (I’ve been there before.) Today I tried their La Plata Pilsner, a Czech style pilsner (which means, in my view, that it tastes better than any American pilsner) and  I have to say it dethrones Pilsner Urquell, the grandpappy o’ Czech beers. La Plata is smoother than Urquell and the taste is all there. Carver Brewing has two bars, and we were seated in the back bar, which leads to the patio and looks like this:

They’ve done a good job with their merchandise here. Check out their spiffy shirts:

Our palates satiated, we walked down Main Street in Durango and did our best to find eclectic shops while avoiding tourist traps. There’s plenty to see on Main Street, lots of it awesome, but one thing blew them all away. It was a flyer advertising an upcoming concert for one of the more boldly named bands I have ever heard of: Shotgun Jesus. I don’t know what to say about it except that it DEMANDS your attention.

There are so many things here to enjoy. The third eye. The Chocolate-Mint horns. The apparent need for TWO sets of collarbones. The misspelling of “resurrection.”  The mind-boggling decision to equip TWO shotguns for Shotgun Jesus, and the second one, when (IF?) Jesus needs it, will be grabbed by the barrel instead of the stock. And what I love most is that the artist clearly didn’t want to try to draw HANDS, so he hid them behind Jesus’s Technicolor Dreamcoat or whatever the heck it is he’s wearing. And what exactly is a Freedom-Billy Funk Jam? Discuss.

OK, to the books: I have to give a huge shout-out to Amy and her people at the Waldenbooks in the Durango Mall. They set the whole thing up on very short notice and made me feel so welcome. And to prove that it’s a small world, I met a guy while there who went to the high school up the street from where I teach. Totally awesome people in this town. Not only do they read urban fantasy, but they also know what a Freedom-Billy Funk Jam is! Anyway, Amy & Co. still have signed copies of Hounded and Hexed in stock, so drop by there and pick one up if you’re in the neighborhood! Here’s a picture of my NEW SPIFFY BOOKMARKS at the signing thingie. Unfortunately, I am also in the picture.

After we left the mall, we went to commune with nature. We drove out to Lemon Reservoir, only about twenty-ish miles or so from Durango, and enjoyed  the day use area. We hung out by the river feeding into the lake. My wife, especially, found it relaxing. Here’s a picture, rather than my words:

We don’t get vistas like that in Arizona. We get some dramatic ones, some really beautiful ones, but we’re not used to seeing stuff like this—you know, with lots of WATER. We love it. We drove out to the other side of Durango after this and took a wee hike in the area ravaged by forest fire years ago. Know what’s cool? Seeing the forest come back. Proof for your eyes:

Around those burned-out stumps you see lots of new saplings growing, which might look like bushes at first glance, but are really the trees themselves coming back from the root. I loved seeing this. After that, it was dinnertime at the Bar D Chuckwagon. They feed you BBQ beef and beans, baked potato, a biscuit, spice cake and applesauce, and after that, you get a show. Funny and talented fellas there—here’s a pic:

So now it’s hittin’ the hay time. Tomorrow: Ouray! Come back for more!

I know this is supposed to be the COLORADO Book & Beer Tour, but I haven’t actually gotten out of Arizona yet. That’s because I needed to do some research for book four (may we all get there someday). That book, if the gods smile upon me, will be called TRICKED, and it will take place in three places: Flagstaff, Tuba City, and Kayenta. So that’s where I stopped today, and I’m typing this in a Kayenta hotel room with a very loud French couple next door. They sound angry but I can’t be sure.

If you bought the ebook version of Hounded, then you got to read the bonus short story called “Kaibab Unbound,” the conflict of which begins in my favorite coffee joint in DA WORLD, Macy’s European Coffee House. I took a quick snap of it before we went to lunch (and for all of these, you can click to enlarge):

Lunch was across the street at Beaver Street Brewery, because there needed to be some beer on this day of the tour, and dang if they don’t have some excellent stuff there. They have some incredible food, too. Check out this Green Goddess salad with salmon on top:

The beer we had was called Lumberyard Raspberry Ale. Incredibly clean and refreshing and NOT syrupy or hypersweet like many fruit beers can be. It’s a subtle thing, and a very high standard for Colorado to meet or beat. In honor of Oberon, I ordered the Brewer’s Platter for lunch, which has two German bratwurst and a spicy sausage served with beer mustard, mashed potatoes and cinnamon apples. Nomnomnom:

After Flagstaff we drove up to Tuba City to scout out the location where SOMEBODY DIES. I can’t show you that location. What I will show you instead is this beautiful horse that escaped from a corral and was trotting along the mesa with a couple of cowboys in pursuit about a hundred yards behind him:

From there we drove up to this mesa just outside of Kayenta that has some simply beautiful sandstone formations to it. It’s called Tyéndé Mesa. (If you want to say that right, it’s tee YEH in DEH, capped syllables stressed.) This will be where the bulk of TRICKED will take place. I took a photo from the other side of Highway 160 to give you an idea of how dramatic the rocks are:

What you can’t see from this picture is the road that skirts the bottom edge of it, and all the hidden gullies and washes down there. There are oases back there. Springs seep out of the rocks, creating these little unexpected patches of green where people take care of sheep. I shit thee not. Here is proof, from a picture taken about six miles along one of the craziest roads I have ever driven in my life:

BLAM! KER-BIFF! Doesn’t this landscape knock you out? In the background you see sandstone. SOLID ROCK. In the foreground, grass grows in very sandy soil and supports a herd of sheep and a cute little sheep dog! The shepherd was on a horse outside the frame. This whole little field is below the “street level” you saw in the previous picture. That rock you see in the background is also right behind us; we’re in a wee canyon here and this is how the Navajo have been getting along—sheep and a few goats do just fine in these sheltered narrow canyons that most of us don’t even know are there. I have some more pictures of this sort of thing—and I planned to post them, too, honest!—but the wifi here is so damn slow it’s taking forever and I want to sleeeeep. Forgive me!

Tomorrow I’ll be in Colorado for sure—Durango!!! Come back for more!

OK, I’ve put this together super-duper fast—parts of it are still up in the air (and maybe you can help with that) and I sure hope more than two people show up—but here you go: I’m going to drive through Colorado because I want to. For a guy who likes beer, it’s a good place to visit. There are lots of trees there and I haven’t hugged them since 2007; I miss them. I’m also hoping to either meet or acquire some new Atticus O’Sullivan fans while I’m at it. Here’s a map of my route, starting down at the bit near Arizona:

Times and places I’m attempting to sign books:
June 5, Durango

Maria’s Books downtown — drive-by signing
Waldenbooks at the Durango Mall — drive-by for sure, possibility of an actual signing (still in the works)

June 6, Ouray

Not sure if Buckskin Books in Ouray will have any copies of Hounded, but if they do, by golly, I’m going to sign ’em!

June 7, small towns plus Colorado Springs

I will do drive-by signings at any bookstore in Ridgway, Montrose, or Gunnison you tell me to visit! This is the release day for Hexed, so I’ll be all excited n’ stuff.
Colorado Springs — Borders at 2120 Southgate Road, 3-4 pm, bring all your homies for the release of HEXED! Call ’em ahead of time at (719) 632-6611 if you’d like to reserve a copy!

June 8, Denver

HUGE thanks to Nina at Who Else! Books in Denver for putting together something for me on short notice! Can’t remember the last time I talked to someone so nice on the phone. I’ll be there at 7:30 pm signing both Hounded and Hexed, and I hope to see lots o’ folks there!

June 9, Fort Collins

Old Firehouse Books, 6 pm Great people here helping me out on short notice too! They’ll have both Hounded and Hexed in stock!

Places I will attempt to drink beer and blog about it:

Durango: Carver Brewing Co.
Ouray: Ouray Brewery
Gunnison: Gunnsion Brewery
Colorado Springs: Bristol Brewing Company. I’ve been to Phantom Canyon a couple of times in the past, so I wanted to try something new this time.
Denver: Great Divide Brewing Company and probably some other places. Mario Acevedo from The League of Reluctant Adults will be with me. Could be a legendary night.
Fort Collins: New Belgium. Duh! :) I won’t get to take the tour—it’s already booked full—but I intend to make the pilgrimage anyway.

So—if you are in any of these places on my route, I really hope you can come see me (or help me arrange a place to be seen)! If you aren’t on my route but know someone who is, please coerce them to come see me and get a book signed for you! And if you don’t live in Colorado and don’t know anybody who does, then I hope you’ll still visit my blog during the tour for pictures of books and beer! If there are any additional places I should visit—for either the book or the beer part of the tour—please let me know! Looking forward to this so much!