With the book release coming up quickly, there are a lot of things being planned, including some demonstrations, book signings and Q&A sessions. I'll be honest: It would be pretty great to see you there. We can get together, waffle some foodstuffs, talk about the book, etc.

There's an events page on this site dedicated to this sort of thing. It's updated as new information becomes available.

But what if you never checked that page? Maybe you wouldn't know! What if you found out the day after I was somewhere? (Well, I'm always somewhere — I mean the same somewhere that you were.) It's all almost too bleak to contemplate. So let's avoid that. Here's where I'll be.

Let's make plans to be the same somewhere together:

Aug. 31: Decatur, Ga. — AJC Decatur Book Festival

Sept. 13: Chicago — The Chopping Block

Sept. 15: Milwaukee — Boswell Book Company

Sept. 16: Corte Madera, Calif. — Book Passage

Sept. 17: Seattle — Book Larder

Sept. 19: Phoenix — Changing Hands Bookstore at First Draft Book Bar

Nov. 1: Baton Rouge — Louisiana Book Festival

The list isn't necessarily finished. To see if more are added, keep an eye on the events page, the Facebook page or the Twitter account.

My mom was in the front passenger seat. I was in the back. A few minutes earlier, she had seen the book for the first time. You can imagine: She was excited.

It was hard to know what to think, let alone what to say.

Then she spoke up: "I can't believe the dedication!"

I paused for a few seconds, thinking about the two years that I — and others whose names are not on the front cover — had invested in making the book a reality. I think that was a good way of summing it up. Hard work. Perseverance. In essence, yes, dedication.

Then it dawned on me.

She didn't mean that dedication.

She meant this one:

To my mom, to whom I owe my first waffle iron and everything else

See, now I've gone and spoiled the first page of the book for you. I hope you'll still consider getting one.