On the Road Again

Now that my Holy Bull manuscript is in, the next order of business is getting set up for my trip to the Kentucky Book Fair. I've posted before on the subject of travel in support of book research and promotion, but if I've said it before, I'll say it again: when you're about to hit the road for a major trip, set up checklists before things get really hectic. Cover what you're going to bring, where you're going to stay, who you plan to meet, and what you plan to do. You don't have to be absolutely obsessive about it; in fact, you do need to leave room for flexibility. But if you try to rely on memory alone, I don't care how good yours is; stress and rushing about to get things done will ensure that something gets missed. I'm not saying you won't miss something if you have a checklist, but at least it's a lot less likely to be something critical. You can live if you forgot to bring your favorite lipstick; there's plenty of places to buy replacements. You may be in a much nastier situation if you forgot to make hotel reservations and there's a major event going on in the town you're visiting.

Actually, you need at least two checklists, now that I think about it: one for your trip, and one for the home front while you're away. If you need to board a pet, make sure your spouse/partner doesn't forget a medical appointment, make arrangements with a neighbor or the Postal Service to pick up your mail, or set up something for your child while you're gone, better put all that on a list too, lest you find yourself scrambling madly via cellphone to get things sorted out that could have been handled easily while you were still home.

Now to follow my own advice ... see y'all on November 2 in Lexington, I hope!