So far, so good

 

We left home at about 8.30am last Wednesday, and picked up a friend in Wichita Falls, then hit the road.  The first day's travel was relatively peaceful, and the traffic wasn't too bad.  We reached Forrest City in Arkansas by 6 pm, and overnighted there.  We were fortunate to discover Iguanas Mexican Restaurant, where we decided to have supper.  The food had interesting twists on the standard Tex-Mex themes, and was also surprisingly affordable.  We enjoyed it.  If you're passing by, it's worth a visit;  we'll probably eat there again on the way back.

On Thursday we headed out at about the same time, making for Chattanooga, Tennessee and the Libertycon convention.  Traffic was heavier than the previous day, but by taking the 840 loop around Nashville we avoided the worst of it.  The final hour or so was, as always, a trial:  the traffic heading to Chattanooga from both Nashville and Atlanta, GA is pretty heavy, but the Interstates are only two-lane (probably thanks to the very steep hills and mountains of the region, which don't lend themselves to wider roads without a lot of very expensive excavation and blasting).  It's one of my least favorite stretches of Interstate.  Nevertheless, we made it through the morass of semi-trucks and impatient cars without suffering any fender-benders, and arrived shortly after 3pm.  Another wait among throngs of Libertycon attendees, all trying to check in at once, and we were able to flop down on the beds in our room and catch our breath once more.

The convention kicked off yesterday, and has gone pretty well.  My wife and I led a discussion panel on the state of self-publishing within the wider publishing industry, as we have almost every year since 2013.  There was lots to share this year, including the glut of self-published books of low quality flooding the market, the impact of AI-generated scripts and -research (most not very well done at all) that's bedeviling conventional publishers as well as self-published authors, and a number of other issues.  We had an interesting and lively discussion.

We'll be leaving for Savannah in Georgia tomorrow.  It, and the coastline to north and south of it, are heavily featured in the Union Navy trilogy I'm writing about the American Civil War, so I'm going to be doing a lot of research.  We'll also take some time to explore one of the more historic cities in America;  there's a lot to see.

As presently planned (but subject to change), we'll be headed back to Nashville later next week to visit with friends, and then head for home again (via Beachaven Winery in Clarksville, TN, which makes some very tasty and affordable wines;  we plan to stock up for the next year or so).  We should get home by or on Sunday, June 29th.

Thanks to everyone who's been praying for traveling safety for us.  As always, your prayers are much appreciated.

Peter