Black and white. And gold.

My husband Gerry and I just returned from our book tour through Idaho and Washington. The book is MOONSHADOWS, a mystery set in Idaho in the 1920s with photographer Nellie Burns and the dog she names Moonshine. All her photography is in black and white with a 4×5 view camera. Along the way, she discovers a Chinese robe with a gold dragon stitched on it. Both her photographs and the robe play key roles in the story.

We began in Ketchum at The Community Library with my books sold by Iconoclast. We had a wonderful turn-out of friends and mystery lovers, who shared wine and hors d’oeuvres and stories for a grand evening. Gerry demonstrated how a view camera works and invited people up afterwards to view the upside-down and inverted image on the screen of the camera. I set the scene with facts and tidbits about the 1920s, told stories about how the book began and about the Chinese robe. I also read from my book and took questions.

Two days later, The Community Library also hosted Lit Crawl, patterned somewhat after a gallery walk and featuring local writers. At five or six different venues, authors read and sold their work and audiences read from banned books. I was assigned to the History Museum along with John Rember, Diane Peavey, Patrick Lee and others. I read two short short stories set in the Wood River Valley—fishing and skiing tales. Lots of townsfolk circulated the town for “lit”erature and food and wine.

Our next stop was Rediscovered Books in Boise on Farmers’ Market day—a Saturday—for a book signing. Dozens and dozens of people came into the bookstore. Several relatives and friends from the area came by, including a Kellogg high school friend, Carolyn Henrickson, who sat with me for a while. Our granddaughter Rowan Morrison sat with me, too, and helped greet people to interest them in a mystery set in Idaho. Afterwards, we enjoyed the market and then headed to McCall, Idaho, where we stayed in our family cabin in Ponderosa Park.

Smoke lay heavy on the lake and in the town of McCall from fires in Kamiah and elsewhere in Idaho and Oregon. The sky was a murky gray—not at all like the usual summer blue. Wind whipped the lake into whitecaps and we saw no mergansers, our usual companions on the beach. Crows, in murder bunches, may have scared them away. The Lily Marsh seems to be drying up even more than usual in late summer, and dried lilies poked up like ancient and desiccated birds. We spent an evening with my nephew Nick and his wife Jill and their children and family and a tasty barbecue just off Warren Wagon Road. Our presentation was sparsely attended, perhaps because of smoke and most visitors leaving to take children to school in Boise. Nevertheless, the McCall Public Library welcomed us with open arms and delicious goodies prepared by a volunteer.

Kellogg, Coeur d’Alene and Spokane all suffered from smoke as well. The Staff House Museum, was the site of my launch party in 2009, when The Good Times Are All Gone Now, my book about Kellogg and mining and growing up there, was issued by the University of Oklahoma Press. A number of friends of old plus my brother and nephew Nick from Sandpoint came to our presentation. Staff at the Staff House were particularly gracious and helpful. We sent leftover food to the firefighters stationed nearby.

Our signing in Coeur d’Alene at Hastings Books and our presentation in Spokane at a favorite book store, Auntie’s, suffered from smoke inhalation too. Radio and television stations in Spokane warned residents not to go outside unless absolutely necessary. Fortunately, a number of people found it absolutely necessary to attend my reading, Gerry’s demonstration, and our stories.

Next: Reading tour in Seattle at the University Bookstore, Third Place Books and Seattle Mystery Bookshop