we can go four hundred miles before we stop for gas

"heads carolina, tails california" by jo dee messina & heading out on tour

By the time you’re reading this, I’m probably already on the road, headed out for the epic Baseball + Book Tour that I started dreaming up (if my notes app is to be believed) in October 2023 and now it’s kinda wild that the time is here. The driving soundtrack will almost certainly be my husband’s “Country Bangers” playlist, which is 6+ hours of mostly ‘90s country hits that he grew up on and I eschewed until only recently, when I started to Get It (they’re fun to sing along to! Let’s go girls!!).

I used to half-jokingly have a playlist called “Country I Can Stand” and it was one song — “She’s in Love with the Boy” by Trisha Yearwood. I wrote more about this song and the movie The Thing Called Love here; and then about the Country Bangers playlist and a weird dream I had about Blake Shelton here.

But I do love me some thematic music, and so this just feels right to listen to while heading up the Eastern Seaboard to the Carolinas, home of my fictional team the Carolina Battery. I made this particular song the walkup music for a side character, Beau Bummer, in what Chris calls “blatant pandering.”¹ This choice was inspired by former Ray, current Seattle Mariner Luke Raley, who we first saw play for the Rays’ minor league team the Durham Bulls using a cover of this song. (It really, really bothered my husband that it wasn’t the original!)

So for the next couple weeks, this newsletter is going to include lots of Tales from the Road! I just finished my first homestand, aka did my launch event at Tropicana Field in St. Pete and then followed it up with an event at Spellbound Bookstore in Sanford. Here is the highlight reel:

Tropicana Field (St. Pete, FL)

Man, what can I even say? This was a dream come true. A true, literal, like no but for REAL dream come true. A lot of people have asked me “How did you get this to happen?!?!” and the truth is . . . I didn’t! It was really all Tombolo Books, the Rays, and my publisher Berkley. Tombolo sent me a message at one point, basically saying, “We may have some exciting news about your launch event — stay tuned,” and I knew they were having a marketing meeting with the Rays about various book-related things but I still didn’t expect anything on this level. (If you’re ever in St. Pete! Tombolo and Tropicana Field are VERY close to each other — like you could theoretically walk although if it’s baseball season the weather might discourage you from trying it.) So it was all them, and I’m so grateful!

I said this at my launch event and I stand by it — I just don’t think any other team would do something like this for a local author’s book. The Rays do a lot with the community, for Pride, for mental health awareness, “Books with the Battery” from The Art of Catching Feelings is modeled after “Reading with the Rays,” etc. I really do love one (1) team!!

My friend and usual conversation partner Carmen Alvarez unfortunately couldn’t make it at the last minute, but my other good friend (and Tombolo bookseller, fellow Rays fan, fellow Tyler Glasnow beauty appreciator, fellow writer!) Rachel Knox pinch hit and knocked it OUT OF THE PARK. It was so fun to chat with her about all things baseball and books, which was half me describing the inspiration for the story and my publication journey and stuff and half us just talking about how much we love and miss Willy Adames.

And now a bullet point list to speed things along:

• We got to go in through the employee entrance! I don’t know, even my father-in-law was geeked out about that. And everyone was so nice!

• I pointed out the live footage from the Rays touch tank playing on a bunch of TV monitors throughout the stadium and that alone I think convinced several of my more baseball-skeptic friends to try to see a game.

• They provided food! Giant ballpark hot dogs and popcorn and cookies and everything. Personally, *I* ate half a hot dog I didn’t even taste because I was too nervous, but I do regret not grabbing a few cookies for afterward.

• The Rays also gave me a gift! A City Connect box with a jersey, shirt, tumbler, fanny pack, shoelaces, and decals. I know Yandy didn’t *personally* pack it up for me but I like to think he wanted to make sure I got my Grit ‘n Glow.

• I mentioned SEVERAL TIMES during my event for everyone to vote early and vote often for the Rays in the All Star ballot, and I meant what I said! You can vote 5x a day every day and that’s exactly what I do! I was so insistent upon it that later a couple people thought the table my husband was running to fill out blank baseball cards (more on this later) was a booth set up to get people to vote lolol.

• A lot of people asked how I vote in the NL (the AL is a straight ticket, obviously), and I’m happy to share my strategies. Basically, it’s Former Rays first (hi, Willy); teams I like second (Diamondbacks usually get some nods); and then after that it’s all vibes and names I think sound cool.

• SO many people I love showed up for the event, which meant a lot to me. My daughter told one of my best friends that I “ate and left no crumbs” as an example. This sounds like a braggy thing to share but it’s my daughter so it’s more sweet than braggy. The older my kids get the more I feel like they understand what I’m doing with the book thing, and it’s just really cool to share it with them. (They are not allowed to read the book, obviously, but I do appreciate the support lol).

• They even played my playlist during the event! That’s the most Fastball’s “The Way” has ever been played in an MLB stadium I’m pretty sure. It was so cool to hear the songs I listened to while drafting the book, or that were mentioned in the book, or are somehow otherwise connected to this whole experience on in the background. This is a link to the Spotify playlist btw. It’s a little . . . eclectic.

One thing I’m doing on this tour, so if you come out to any of my stops be prepared! I got these blank baseball cards printed for each location, and am bringing different colored pens for people to write notes on them or doodle little pictures or whatever they want to do. I got this idea from authors on Instagram who post about having people sign a copy of their book almost like a guestbook — I love that idea, but then I was talking about wanting to get a baseball card binder for the fictional baseball card collection I’m amassing (so far it’s only 6 cards, two each from You Could Be So Lucky, The Prospects, and my book, which is 6 more than I had a few months ago but still hardly enough to fill a binder!). But then I cooked up this idea, my husband designed the cards for me, my new local Printing Press friends rush-print them for me, and voila! Here we are.

Spellbound Bookstore (Sanford, FL)

I did an event last year at Spellbound Bookstore in Sanford and knew I HAD to go back and do everything ALMOST EXACTLY THE SAME because it was such a blast last year. Literally, I barely changed a thing (the bookstore itself did move to a new location lol — and it’s bright and airy and beautiful!). I brought the same friend with me; we went to the same German place (Hollerbach’s) for sandwiches for lunch; we went to the same used books and record store where I bought a book called Andy & Andie where one side is from Andy’s POV and then you flip it over and it’s all from Andie’s I CAN’T WAIT TO READ THIS (last year I bought a romance written by Fabio that I, uh, still haven’t read, but I have a feeling I’ll fly through Andy & Andie); we went to Gallery on First, which is an amazing working art gallery with a ton of cool art and you can walk right through the artists’ workspaces to admire it.

Then it was time for the event itself, which just like last year had impeccable vibes! I love seeing so many familiar Orlando-adjacent faces — bookstagrammer Bree and author Racquel Henry and my IG friend Teddy and author Amy Buchanan and a bunch more. I also felt able to say “fuck” more because I had been *trying* to keep it a bit cleaner for the Rays organization! I’m no Avril Lavigne!

EMBARRASSINGLY in the signing line, someone pulled up this comment I’d made on Instagram in response to a question about who I voted for in the Rays’ mascot race, where I said I always went for DJ Kitty and “don’t even get me started on the fact that they let the Rowdies mascot participate” and she said she was the one who’d asked the question and the Rowdies mascot is performed by . . . her brother!!!!!! Here’s me over here like, “personally I don’t like heckling, I would never do it” being an ass to the Rowdies mascot on my Instagram and getting called out for it!!! Put the clown nose on me and hide my face PLEASE! She did say her brother thought it was hilarious lol and I apologized in writing in her book inscription.

I am LIVING for this new meme btw. I have yet to see one that wasn’t gold.

Upcoming Tour Dates

Assuming my one-time toxicity around the Rowdies mascot doesn’t ruin the tour, here are events I have coming up, in case you’re in the area and feel like coming out!

• Friday, June 28: East City Bookshop in Washington, DC (in conversation w/ Nikki Payne!)

• Monday, July 1: The Ripped Bodice in Brooklyn, NY (in conversation w/ KT Hoffman!)

• Monday, July 8: Parnassus Books in Nashville, TN (a joint event w/ KT Hoffman!)

• Thursday, July 11: The Novel Neighbor in St. Louis, MO (in conversation with bookseller Stephanie Skees!)

• Saturday, July 13: Eagle Eye Bookshop in Atlanta, GA (a meet and greet rather than a formal event per se!)

A Few Closing Notes

Again, I appreciate every single one of you who’s celebrated this book with me so far — it really does mean a lot. For now, I have to go finish packing because my priorities tonight were, in order: (1) finish Bridgerton (I did it!); (2) finish this newsletter (I feel like I’m bringing it home); and (3) finish packing (which in retrospect probably should’ve been first, huh?). I decided I would wear ONLY baseball-themed clothes on this entire trip, which honestly did make packing a lot easier. My husband once said when I laid all my Rays gear out on the bed, “methinks the lady doth Rays Up too much” and I honestly STILL laugh when I think about it.

Oh, also — I was on a couple podcasts to promote The Art of Catching Feelings, in case you wanted to give a listen!

• The Well-Read Podcast

• Get Lit with Lianna podcast

And one final thought I always have about the song “Heads Carolina, Tails California” . . . do we know geographically where they’re starting from? Because that could be a helluva flip.

Currently reading . . . I just finished Keanu Reeves Is Not in Love with You: The Murky World of Online Romance by Becky Holmes, which I picked up on a whim from the library (don’t you love that?) because the cover was eye-catching, I love Keanu Reeves (but do understand he does not love me), and the world of online catfishing is a bit interesting to me right now because . . . well, obviously Daphne’s intentions in sliding into Chris’ Instagram DMs are pure but that is often not the case! I get loads of these “hello dear” type messages from guys with two first names and three pictures of them in vague military settings and a bio that says something like “Life is Good” with a baffling emoji afterward. I just delete them but it was fun to watch Becky go down these weird conversational tracks to see how the scammers would respond. And I really did enjoy learning more about how these scams work, who’s running them, people who have been victims of them, etc. A tiny little story that *I* find charming — once I was followed by one of these types of guys, all military profile, vague bio, and I was like UGH another one, but then he posted a picture with my book which he’d been reading on deployment lol. We had a very pure, straightforward interaction and that was that. Who knew?

watching . . . We *just* finished The Expanse as a family and we’re still reeling! What a great show!!! My daughter taught herself the theme on violin and played along to it for the final episode. It’s a sickass theme, honestly. In case you were wondering: Drummer is forever our pookie; “I didn’t think we could lose” gets quoted every day; and when my daughter came out and I asked her for a third thing to put here she said, “Holden needs his coffee.” He certainly does.

listening to . . . It has been a LOT of Melanie Martinez’s Portals in this house after seeing her live last week. I was a big Crybaby fan, and I admit that Melanie’s subsequent albums didn’t grab me quite the same way, but seeing Portals live in particular really unlocked something about it. It’s such a nonstop vibe and there are apparently lots of cool musical things she’s doing (my favorite song “VOID” starts in the major key and then goes to the minor but not the relative minor?!? and that’s interesting? I don’t get it but I do like it).

preordering . . . Just a few books coming out July 2 that I’m highly anticipating!!!

• The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen

• Just Playing House by Farah Heron

• The Love of My Afterlife by Kirsty Greenwood

1. I don’t know where else to put this, but a few side notes: first, I have an entire novella in mind for Beau Bummer and we’ll see if I ever get to write/publish it! I think it would be a lot of fun. Two, speaking of “blatant pandering,” one thing I find very cute about Chris is when he says “y’all” when talking to a group of kids and their coach in one scene. Like he’s a Philly boy! But he slips into it when he’s talking to a group of people from the area and doesn’t even know he’s doing it. Another thing I would love to write one day is a list of like 10 Small Things about Chris Kepler I Personally Find Very Cute (as if I Did Not Write Them Myself) lol.