They still play the Bee Gees, Frank Sinatra and Chicago on the radio in Jackson, Mississippi. And you don’t even have to switch the dial. That was the mix I heard Saturday morning on the drive from my hotel to the vibrant and always-hopping Lemuria Bookstore.

I saw Sonny Brewer pull out of the parking garage right ahead of me, so I knew I wasn’t going to be late for the stock signing of A Cast of Characters and Other Stories—Sonny’s the editor of the series. Jack Pendarvis introduced us at the Southern Literature Festival in Nashville last year. Or as Sonny put it, “Jack was going around acting like he was Karen’s agent.” It was Jack who passed along my piece, “When Jesus Lost His Head,” that appears in the new collection.

Turns out I was late to the stock signing. I’d stopped to get a coffee, spilled it, had to clean it up and get another. By the time I arrived, nearly all of the other authors in the anthology were sitting dutifully at the tables: Howard Bahr, Stuart Bloodworth, Pia Z. Ehrhardt, Tom Franklin, Frank Turner Hollon, Chip Livingston, Thomas McGuane, L. A. Hoffer, and James Whorton Jr. (Only Ron Rash, Rick Bragg, and William Gay weren’t there.) I took the only seat left, the one next to crusty Howard Bahr, who kept calling me “ma’am”, until I wore him down and convinced him that “honey” was much more to my liking.

“Is that a navy tattoo?” I asked, pointing to a blue-mottled mark on his forearm.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Vietnam?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“What years?”

“65-67.”

“Aren’t you impressed that I’m a girl and knew that was a Navy tattoo?” I said, smiling.

“I am,” Bahr replied.

DAY ONE: I could’ve used a sail today as I headed west through the Columbia River Gorge. It was the perfect windsurfer day. Frothy-white caps breaking and rolling to the earth’s pulse. I was tempted to pull off Interstate 84 to watch the Tidewater barge push upriver or maybe to take a hike to the top of a broken ridge. But I didn’t have time to dilly-dally around: Book TV was waiting.

My only stop was at Cousin’s Restaurant in The Dalles. I didn’t drop in for their colossal-sized cinnamon rolls, although that’s as good a reason as any. I had something else in mind. Every time a person walks through the door at Cousin’s a cow moos, making it impossible to carry out a discreet mission. But I quickly find a stall and leave a copy of After the Flag Has Been Folded on the back of a toilet, inscribed with these words: “The author has left this book for you. If you find it, please read it and then pass it along to another reader. Then drop me a line and let me know who you are, so we can follow the journey this book makes.” (I hope that journey doesn’t involve a sewer drain.)

C-Span’s Book TV bus was parked catawampus at Pioneer Square, across Broadway from Nordstrom’s, and the kindly book people reported that they had met all sorts of interesting characters throughout the day. There’s no better place for a character study than people-watching in Portland. The interview involved a few technical glitches, followed by some stammering around on my behalf. No matter how well-prepared I am, it never seems be enough.

Jennie Shortridge (Eating Heaven) met me at the nearby Starbucks, which was too crowded for a relaxing visit, so we found a quiet spot around the corner. Jennie, who’d driven down from her Seattle home, led a Wordstock workshop for teachers. It was well-attended and she even got paid for the gig, always a good thing.

Jennie and I first met at the Pulpwood Queens event in Jefferson, Texas. We both agreed that the best thing about the Pulpwood weekend was the friends we made, which is after all, how Kathy Patrick promotes it. Speaking of friends, ran into a couple in the lobby of the stately Benson Hotel. Cassandra King (The Same Sweet Girls) and Ron Rash (The World Made Straight). King has just returned from a trip to Africa, with her husband, Pat Conroy. She mentioned something about miserable heat. Rash and King were on a panel together Saturday, while I shared a stage with Debra Dean (The Madonnas of Leningrad).

Folks around these parts say the best thing about Oregon is that there’s something for everyone here—beaches, mountains, deserts; hiking, skiing, windsurfing. The line-up for Wordstock reflects some of that same diversity: Kathleen Dean Moore, Kim Stafford, John Rember, Yusef Komunyakaa, & Carole Radziwill. Talk about eating cake.