LINDA OLSSON'S BOOK PROMOTIONAL JOURNEY ACROSS THE US COMES TO AN END

Day 16-19
Boston, New York and Washington
26 March – 3 April 2009

Grey skies as we touchdown in Boston. And cold. But nice, orderly and pleasant to look at. Wonderful hotel, with a room on the 16th floor overlooking Boston Commons. I go for a walk and a late afternoon sun just manages to peek through the clouds. I buy antihistamines as I have decided I don’t have a cold, just a reaction to the northern spring. I had forgotten how that feels. There are spring flowers and blossoming trees everywhere and my throat tightens, my eyes water and my nose runs.
The evening event is at an independent store: Brookline Booksmith. Again I reflect that a country with so many wonderful book stores can’t be a bad country. There is a good audience and I manage to get through speech and reading with minimal interruptions – just blowing my nose and taking a sip of water occasionally. Good sales, too.

The following morning I do a telephone interview with a local radio station. Another very well prepared journalist. I am impressed that they all seem to have spent considerable time on my book.
I spend the afternoon doing stock signings at a number of book stores. My escort is called Ginny, very good company. One store stands out: the Boston Coop. I struggle to tear myself away. My idea of heaven would be close to this: a continuous maze of bookshelves over several floors and soothing classic music accompanying your literary explorations.

The signings done we carry on to Sandwich. Yes, that’s what this little place is called. Like in Seattle, I wonder where we are heading as we drive through wilderness. And where the audience will come from. I have always thought that Cape Cod would be for me. I am not disappointed. We drive across the channel that cuts through, separating the Cape from the mainland and reach a world of its own. Quiet small towns with graceful wooden houses. Sandwich is a delightful example. The small town has at least three substantial church buildings, one recently sold as a private residence. Titcomb’s Bookshop is the smallest of my tour. Perhaps the smallest I have ever seen. The owner Vicky is closing as we drive up – the event is at the local library. Rightly so, the store can only just hold the three of us. I have to pose for the traditional photo with the statue on the roadside, and then we head for the library.
I can’t understand how this miracle has come about, but Sandwich manages to supply one of the largest and most interested audiences of this tour. Afterwards, there is coffee and cake, but as usual I am busy signing and don’t get to taste either. Just as well, my healthy living plan has gone down the drain the last few days.
We drive back in darkness and I am entertained by Ginny’s tales of other author’s on tour, including both Barack Obama and John McCain. We agree that she probably has material for a very interesting book. I suspect that she is too nice a person to contemplate writing it, though. By now she is a strong contender for my top pick among my escorts. It’s between Ginny and Jeff Martin in Tulsa, I think.
It rains in the morning. My flight to Washington DC is 9am, not too bad – I get to sleep till 6.30. I have plenty of time and find the gate and sit down to read. After considerable time, I suddenly come to with a start and realise I am at the wrong gate. Same flight, but wrong time. This one departs at 10am. But I should have been at the 9am one. It’s now ten to nine. I run across to the correct gate, but it’s too late, of course. I can’t believe I made such a stupid mistake! Things must be slipping, I have lost my focus. Luckily I get on the 10am flight and there is nothing urgent for me to catch in Washington.

Washington was not intended to be part of this tour. It was added at the last minute and came about in a strange way. When I was preparing for the launch event in Stockholm I wanted to have a live performance of music. There is so much music in Sonata for Miriam and I had listened to so much music while writing it. As part of my research for Sonata for Miriam I had listened to music by Polish composers who were murdered during the Holocaust, or whose lives and careers were destroyed or disrupted. I found a CD with a collection of music by some of those composers, and one piece came to stand out for me: Passacaille, by Szymon Laks.

I decided that I would like to have it performed. The search for the sheet music took me on an interesting journey. First I e-mailed the producers of the CD. They had no record of the music, of course, but referred me to the cellist who had performed for the recording, Stephen Honigberg. He kindly responded, remembered the piece, but had no record of the music. He suggested two music stores, both with an internet presence. I wrote to those, but was told that the music was long out of print. That’s that, I thought.

But then one late night I realised that the recording had been made at the Holocaust Museum in Washington. I went to their website and clicked on ‘contact us’. I expected nothing. But lo and behold! In the morning there was a response from the music archivist at the Museum, Bret Arb. And he had the music. There was a small problem, though.

All music was packed in boxes, since the archives were in the process of being moved to another building. He expected to be able to get to them in April. Would that be too late? It wasn’t , the release was not till June. But as the weeks and months went by I began to worry that he would forget my little matter. In order to subtly remind him I sent off a mail asking how much the music would cost. ‘No need to remind me. No cost.’was the reply. And the music did arrive and was performed for the launch in Stockholm, and later also in Auckland.

As my tour itinerary was firming up I e-mailed Bret and said that although I would be coming to the US, my tour would not include Washington. Two weeks later I had an e-mail from a Swedish woman in Washington. She had heard from her neighbour, the music archivist at the Holocaust Museum (!) that I would be on tour in the US. Would it be possible for me to add an event in Washington? I talked to my publisher and we decided it could be done by cutting a day off my stay in Boston.

So, arriving in Washington I first meet Bret for lunch. It’s wonderful to finally sit across from this person who has played such an important role in the launch of my novel and finally be able to thank him properly. I give him a CD with the Adagio from Sonata that was composed by Swedish composer Alexander Ekroth-Baginski for the audio book release in Sweden. I feel it’s now in good hands. Then we walk over to the Museum and Bret takes me to the gift store and introduces me to the manager. He asks me if I would sign copies of my book for them, and I realise they have it in stock. He tells me they don’t normally stock fiction, but have made an exception for my book. It’s Sonata for Miriam and Iréne Nemirovsky’s books. I feel very flattered. Humble. Grateful.
I decide not to visit the museum, though. The queues are never ending and I have too little time. This is not a place to rush through. Instead I make my way back to my hotel. There is no message from my escort, and when I ring her there is no answer.

The event at the Swedish Embassy is due to start at 5.30pm. At 4.30pm I decide to take a cab. On the way I want to visit the famous book store Politics and Prose. I had hoped to do an event here, but it wasn’t possible on such short notice. There are author events here virtually every evening and they are booked at least six months in advance. They do have a dozen copies of my book, though, and they are very interested. We agree that we will do an event here next time. I just need to write another book first.
The Swedish Embassy is a brand new glass and concrete building right on the water in K Street. Guests are taken of short guided tour of the premises before the event. Presently, the Embassy hosts exhibitions focused on Swedish environmental policy and research.
Again I am blown away by the number of guests. There is not enough seating for all and a few stand at the back for the one hour presentation. And again I miss the drinks and nibbles while signing copies of my book. But that is as it should be.
I finish the evening with a late supper with a friend.

On the train to New York the following morning I realise my tour is now over.

In New York this time I am on my own and my hotel much humbler. But it’s right by Washington Square, a part of New York that I love. I hope to revisit some of my favourite places. And I will have dinner with my agent and properly celebrate the sale of the film rights of ‘Let me sing you gentle songs’. I signed the contract in New York a few days ago, but there hasn’t been time to celebrate till now. If all goes to plan the Swedish producer will collaborate with a New Zealand one. And that will be a dream come true for me. My two home countries coming together.

During this tour I have again and again been reminded of how grateful I should be to belong to these two countries. They are both highly respected here. Both laden with an aura of mystique, places to dream of.
I feel very proud to be a New Zealand writer of international acclaim. And a Swedish one, too!

Footnote:

As Linda's tour comes to an end and she prepares to fly home to Auckland, NZ I would like to express my warm thanks for the trouble she has gone to keeping this diary and sharing it with us on Beatie's Book Blog.