It’s Day 4 of my book tour, and I’ve slept in a different bed every night so far. A leaky air mattress on a floor in Mountain View, a couch in Marin, and a comfy spare bedroom in San Francisco. Luckily my other hubs will involve only two or three cities near each airport instead of seven!



My first event was basically a warm-up, a talk over dinner with some Stanford students at a co-op house where 50 students live. Half the students left as soon as they finished their vegan burgers…

When I heard the words “nationwide book tour,” I used to imagine working an hour or two every day for several weeks and spending evenings in fancy hotels, all the while being hounded by adoring fans. Sounded pretty sweet.



Well, it may be that way for the superstars, but for the rest of us, a spring book tour begins in November, with planning, research, pitch letters, and reaching out to friends and contacts in various cities.



So there I was in November staring at a…

It’s possible I got published because I liked somebody’s hat.



Let me back up a little.



I was 23 when I unexpectedly found myself in Palestine. Two years later, when I returned to the US, I was desperate to write about my experiences. But every time I thought about sitting down to write a book, I felt like I was standing at the base of Mt. Everest staring up into the the vastness. And the task was not to scale the mountain but to eat it.



Two years later I was…

 The first reviews of my book Fast Times in Palestine have been coming in, and I always cover my eyes a little bit, wondering what each verdict will be. Luckily it's been mostly good news so far.



Publishers Weekly calls it one of the…