Fantasy Fiction Tour Update, Day 5: Knoxville and Asheville

I said Tennessee is a gorgeous state, and as we drove east across the rest of the state, I found I am guilty of understatement. The Smoky Mountains were just incredible. I found myself conjuring all sorts of adventure that might occur under the canopies of the trees that draped every peak and valley.

Shown above is the Fantasy 4 at the Cedar Springs Christian Bookstore. Wow, did they treat us well. They placed us in the front of the store on a platform no less. We certainly don't deserve it, but it's really great to be where we can greet people--all the people--as they come in the store. One thing that went on behind the scenes--in transit actually--is I got to listen to Bryan Davis and Christopher Hopper swap faith stories. You know, those "this is what God did" kind of stories. I have to tell you I was absolutely blown away. I am just about speechless because the stories of miraculous God things that these men have witnessed--in person--not hearsay, they're simply unbelievable outside of God's divine intervention.

By the way, James Somers stopped by. So great to meet him. For those who don't know him, he's an author of two SciFi books called The Chronicles of Soone. Very cool stories. Pray for James as these books are now in the hands of some heavyweight publishers. We've got some great fantasy on the way, but very little CBA SciFi. Shown above: we had another unexpected visit. A splendid lady named Kathryn walked in and saw our swords. She mentioned that she teaches stage swordplay at the local college {where was that class when I went to Maryland U?} Anyway, several authors with puppy dog eyes pleaded "teach us! teach us!" And without a moment's hesitation she began to school us on proper stance, footwork, guard, and attack. {Where was she when I wrote The Door Within?} As you can see above, we actually staged a combat scene--put a few notches in our beautiful new swords. But it was 300% worth it.


Tomorrow: Charlotte and Raleigh, NC.