I have arrived in Rhode Island, where it is cold and rainy. Naturally I feel right at home. It isn’t snowing, though, which is a definite improvement to Sweden.

My epic US tour kicks of today with a visit to Barrington Books, and it comes just in the nick of time. I am in desperate need of more books. I brought three, and I am half way through the last one. This is what I brought for the journey:

– Nora Ephron’s I Remember Nothing and Other Reflections
– Georgette Heyer’s The Grand Sophy
– Andy Weir’s The Martian

It’s The Martian I’m currently reading. I am alone in the hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. He is alone on Mars. I grant you that his situation is slightly cooler than mine. I long to be smart, funny in the face of great challenges and able to repair spacey things with duct tape. I am not there yet, but at least I have started to talk to myself in manner of Mark Watney.

I have a feeling that the arrival of Lathea from Sourcebooks will also be in the nick of time – she’ll get here in a few hours, hopefully before her author has gone any further down the road to crazy.

Lathea, of course, thinks I’m busy preparing for tonights event, which I am, in a manner of speaking: I am working desperately against the clock to finish The Martian before 5 pm. Otherwise I think I will have to make Lathea hide it from me. As first impressions go, perhaps it is better not to meet her with desperate, shining eyes, whispering: “Please, hide it!” as I thrust the book toward her before I can change my mind.

So. Back to work.

Ps. Maybe I should start to grow potatoes in my hotel room?