It's an exciting week for us as the Rummel-Hudson take to the road.
We're heading back to Austin, a town that generates a lot of mixed feelings for us. On one hand, everyone knows how hipster cool Austin is. by golly, and having been in suburban Plano for a few years now, some hipster cool sounds like a nice change of scenery for a few days. On the other hand, it was Schuyler's Austin-area school that failed her so miserably, and Plano's remarkable program that gave so much of her future back to her, so I suppose we're returning with a little bit of "How do you like us now?" going on. Like the Prodigal Son, if he'd gone off and made it big and was just coming back to show his dad what an asshole the old man turned out to be.
We're going back for two events. On Thursday morning, I'll be giving the keynote address at the Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, followed by at least one and possibly two book signing sessions with Schuyler. TSHA is the professional organization for speech-language pathologists and audiologists in Texas. This is one of the larger conventions of its kind in the country, and yesterday I was told that so far, about 2100 people have registered to attend the keynote session on Thursday morning. That's a lot of people. Yeah. A lot of people.
Oh, sorry. Paralyzed for just a moment there. Moving right along.
On Friday evening, I'll be speaking and signing copies of Schuyler's Monster at BookPeople, one of my favorite places in Austin. It's one of the more venerated independent bookstores in the country, and I'm really happy to be appearing there. I can't imagine I'll be doing very many more bookstore appearances for this book, after all; it's been out for over a year and I've done a LOT of them already. If this is to be my last bookstore appearance, I feel like it's a good place to end.
So if you're in the Austin area this week, I hope you'll come see us. Julie and Schuyler will be there for both events, which is always a selling point for these things. We'll be easy to pick out of a crowd. Look for the hot pink Big Box of Words.
I'm giving a speech at the Capitol on Thursday and then flying back home, but I wish that I would be in town for the book signing.
ReplyDeleteRob, I am so happy for you in your well-deserved success as an author. You've changed a lot of people's lives with your book, and you rock. Good luck on the keynote!
ReplyDeleteDon't think of them so much as a crowd of 2100 people. Instead, think about it a class of 30, or a really small group of colleagues.
ReplyDeleteBecause ultimately, they're all human beings who also know that you're a human being and they all feel pretty much the same way about giving speeches.
I didn't know about Friday's book signing. Hope we'll be able to stop by and see you all in action.
ReplyDeleteRob, Wish I could be there to hear "the rest of the story." You gave the best keynote ever last year at our Assisitve Technology Cluster Conference. People still talk about it. Everyone who attends is in for a wonderful experience. You'll do great-you always do. Wishing the whole family the best,
ReplyDeleteGayle
PS: Congrats on the STAP funding. Awesome, isn't it?
Rob,
ReplyDeleteI was so hoping to see you in Austin, but I just can't make it up from San Antonio that night. When you write your next book, make sure to go to BookPeople again to talk, and I'll make it then for sure!
Laura
I can't imagine I'll be doing very many more bookstore appearances for this book, after all; it's been out for over a year and I've done a LOT of them already. If this is to be my last bookstore appearance, I feel like it's a good place to end.
ReplyDeleteNah. You still haven't done any bookstore appearances outside of the US, that I know of. And you definitely haven't done any outside of North America. When's your European tour?