Austin with Brad was a welcome occassion.

We needed to slow down and enjoy the front-running success that we had already had with the book. We had sold over 100,000 copies and were seeing the numbers increase exponentially on a daily basis. It seemed that people actually liked my book. I was enamored by the response and the future possibilities and began running new book possibilities by Brad as we ate dinner.

We ate at Fleming's in downtown Austin.

Brad and I both ordered the Bone-In Ribeye. It was a fabulous dinner and we paired it with a Caymus 40th anniversary Cabernet Sauvignon. The steak, the wine, the sides and the conversation was exhilarating. I couldn't thank Brad enough for the help that he had supplied. He had introduced me to an agent that had actually taken my book, and was helpful in the process toward setting up a book tour. While my agent had given me free reign to setup book signings as I wished, we had certainly made progress having a dedicated contract with Barnes & Noble.

Barnes & Noble gave us cart-Blanche.They had really taken the time to roll out the red carpet for us. I was scheduled for signings for the next forty days, so my time in Austin had to be relaxing. I would call Dad each nite on the road and tell him about our day. He was keeping track of my numbers and perhaps knew them better than I did from a sales perspective. He knew his numbers, and so did the rest of his community.

Brad and I talked about our next book projects. He was slated to do something different and was going to pen a sappy Christmas story. I, on the other hand, had only a few good ideas, but could not decide. It was either going to be a fiction novel about a specific place in my past or a story about life in an Amish community. I needed an outlet, and starting a new book while on the road would not only be rewarding, but also relaxing.

As I laid my head on the pillow that night, I began thinking about how a novel from the Amish country might go. The ideas kept flowing, so I started the book that nite in Austin. Would I strike gold again? I wondered...