Book Tour Ends with a Bang (and thunder and lightning).

Hello from the road! I've just spent a great day with my Alabama family after two great events in Birmingham.

The first was an appearance on Good Day Alabama. What a cushy gig! I grilled on a rooftop patio in perfect spring weather, overlooking the city.  Host Janice Rogers and the crew were so nice that I relaxed as if I were just at a barbecue with friends.

Lucky for me, someone that day cancelled so I got two segments. In the first I made a Chocolate-Chipotle Barbecue sauce, using Theo Spicy Chili chocolate. You can see in the video link that I made pulled pork sliders, topped with Island Slaw, and showed my baby backs finished on the grill.

It was a perfect spring day, but by evening we had a lightening show that the kids watched like fireworks.

The next day was the Book and Cook event at Alabama Booksmith. We were supposed to barbecue in their huge parking lot. That part was cancelled due to the severe tornado warnings and torrential rain.

My family braved the weather to come and we ate barbecue in the back of the bookstore. There were some  non-family members came as well, but most of the bookstore customers called in their book orders. I signed a huge stack of books to a near empty room.

Still, we had a good ol' time, laughing an eating in our mostly private party, with thunder and lightening booming in the background. The owner of Alabama Booksmith was so gracious and kind. He made me promise to come back with the next book I write. I promised back that I would be there.

It's Official: The She-Smoke Southern Book Tour

I've been hinting at this for months, and dates are now firm for the big book tour. Back in November I decided I'd only go to cities where I have relatives and friends. Once I realized just how many pins in the map that really meant, I scaled it down a bit. I'll be bringing along the whole fam damly, after all, on our first ever road-trip-longer-than-Portland.

You can watch me unravel right here on the blog during the tour.

Besides the TV appearances and book store events below, I'll be eating my way through some serious barbecue, and blogging about it. I promise to take drool-worthy pictures.

My first stop is Austin, a city that has, until now, eluded me. There is a Seattle-Austin connection and most of my friends have either lived there for a spell, come here from there, or have visited and loved it to pieces.

Here is the full schedule. It is also listed on the website.

April 14: AUSTIN, TX - Book reading and signing at Book Woman, 7pm. What better first stop on the tour than Austin's famous feminist bookstore.

April 20: ATLANTA, GA - TV Segment on Better Mornings Atlanta. Host Flip Fors and I will be talking barbecue, girl-style, in the wee hours of the morning (5-7am).

April 21: ATLANTA, GA - Book signing and barbecue event by A Cappella Books, hosted at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, 7pm. EAYC has a pit barbecue and bar. My kind of book event!

April 23: BIRMINGHAM, AL - TV Segment on Good Day Alabama, 7am. I'll be grilling on the roof of this Fox News affiliate LIVE.

April 24: BIRMINGHAM, AL - Book signing and cook out at Alabama Booksmith, 2pm. We'll be 'cuein' in the parking lot of Birmingham's premier independent bookstore. Cook out lasts until the food is gone. I'll read a short bit from the book as well.

I still may add one more book event at the end, and will update you if that happens.

Stay tuned for the *****SOUTHERN TOUR CONTEST***** to be announced later this week.