We are a little over three weeks away from the release of Live Laugh Love, but less than two weeks away from the beginning of the Live Laugh Love book tour…
It’s a whirlwind tour, and even with a completely packed schedule, we couldn’t fit in all of our invitations—but trust us, we did our best.
Let’s start off with some exciting news: My publisher will be permitting early sales at in-person events leading up to the release day. (Most events require registration, and some require a book purchase—you can find all the details at the links provided. In some cases, attendence is limited and some are already near capacity…so if you’d like to attend one, don’t procrastinate with your RSVP!)
Without further ado…
On Wednesday, September 2, at 7pm, I’ll be at Grace Baptist Church in Statesville, North Carolina. (We haven’t yet confirmed whether a bookseller will be there so it’s not on the official book tour graphic, but I will definitely be there!)
On Thursday, September 3, at 7pm, I’ll be at Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina, in conversation with Davidson’s own Gerardo Marti. There will definitely be books available!
September 4-5 I’ll be at the Wild Goose Festival—books will be available, but conference registration is required.
On Wednesday, September 9, Live Laugh Love will be making its hometown debut at Schuler Books here in Grand Rapids, 6:30pm. Schuler’s has been an amazing supporter of my work since before Jesus and John Wayne released, so I’m thrilled to be celebrating the release of its successor at my favorite bookstore. Last I heard, tickets for the event were nearly sold out but once they do sell out, you can get put on a waiting list in case any ticket-holders are unable to attend. (The limit is due to room capacity—but rest assured, Schuler’s will have a tall stack of signed copies to sell in the store and online.)
On Saturday, September 12, at 2pm, I’ll be at First United Methodist Church in Denton, TX, in conversation with Keri Ladner, author of the important new book American Dominion.
The next day, on Sunday, September 13, 7pm, I’ll be at Fabled Bookshop in Waco, TX, with the one and only Beth Allison Barr! Then on Monday, September 14, I’ll be giving The James Vardaman Lecture at Baylor University at 5:30pm, in the Fudge Family Auditorium, hosted by Beth. This is a free event and all are welcome.
From Texas I’m heading directly to the epicenter of American evangelicalism: Colorado Springs. On Tuesday, September 15, I’ll be giving a talk at the Center for the Study of Evangelicalism at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. I was there a couple years ago to talk about Jesus and John Wayne and we ended up having to move the event to a larger auditorium. I still recall many of the conversations I had there with people who stayed after for the meet & greet, and I’m thrilled to be back with the next installment. The talk starts at 6pm but I’ll be signing books starting at 5pm. And…the first 75 people to show up for the book signing will get a free copy of Live Laugh Love. After that, copies will be available for purchase.
On Wednesday, September 16, I’ll be in Denver at the storied Tattered Cover at 6pm.
Next, I’m heading out to New York City! I’ll be doing a couple of events at Riverside Church as part of Spark Lab NYC. I’ll be on a very fun panel with two other very fun guests (stay tuned) on Thursday, Sept 24, at 6pm. Then on Friday morning, 10:30am, I’ll be speaking on Live Laugh Love. Preliminary details available here, but more details to follow…
On Saturday, September 26, I’ll be in Austin at the Texas Tribune Festival, interviewed by Religion News Service’s and NPR’s Niala Boodhoo. (Fun fact: Niala is also a Calvin University alum!) As you might imagine, Austin features prominently in later chapters of Live Laugh Love, so I’m especially excited to bring the book to that space.
Then on Saturday, October 3, I’ll be at the Decatur Book Festival in Georgia. On Monday, October 5, I’ll be at the wonderful Thank You Books in Birmingham, Alabama. (I added this one as a special thank you to the many Alabama readers who have been avid supporters of Jesus and John Wayne over the years—I’m looking forward to meeting some of you in person!)
On Tuesday, October 6, I’ll be in Minneapolis, in conversation with Angela Denker at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church at an event jointly sponsored by Magers & Quinn Booksellers. I’ll have more to say about this event in a future post and share why I wanted to be sure to include a Minneapolis stop on this tour.
On October 8, I’m still working on a public event in Kansas City—more details soon…Then on Oct 9-10 I’ll be at Theology Beer Camp.
On October 17 or18, I’ll be in Nashville at the Southern Festival of Books, and then I head out to South Africa the next week (not part of my book tour!) to give a talk in Pretoria at the 40th anniversary of the Belhar Confession. It makes no sense for me to throw this trip into the middle of a book tour, but it was too important to decline.
On November 2, the night before the midterms, I plan to be speaking with Robby Jones in Washington, D.C. This will be a fun one—more details to follow. I’ll be back in DC the next week, speaking at Georgetown on Nov. 10, with Robby and with Matthew Taylor.
Finally, on November 12, I’ll be speaking at the Festival of Faiths in Louisville, KY—a beautiful way to wrap things up.
Last weekend, I had the honor of speaking at the Women’s Connection conference at Montreat, North Carolina. It absolutely loved meeting so many incredible women over the course of the weekend. And, if the response to my talk there is at all indicative of what’s to come, I think it’s safe to say that Live Laugh Love will be hitting even more viscerally with readers than Jesus and John Wayne.
It is a book that needs to be read, discussed, and digested. I’ve already heard that several people who received early copies are already on their second read. As a scholar, I never take for granted how incredible it is for people to take the time to read a thickly-footnoted history book and then allow themselves to be changed by the words they read.
I have no doubt I will be tired by the end of this tour. I’ll probably be exhausted at the end of the first week of the tour! But I never tire of hearing readers’ stories. In fact, when you read Live Laugh Love, you’ll encounter several of those stories in the text.
I’m grateful for the curiosity and openness with which so many have approached my work, and the courage so many display when it comes to grappling with its consequences in their own lives.
Finally, let me close with a shoutout to Liveright Publishing, and especially to my publicist, Peter Miller. At a time when old-school book tours are becoming increasingly rare, Liveright is leaning in. Peter has been juggling all sorts of invitations and navigating all sorts of complications and complexities to put this tour together, and he has done so with unfailing grace and good humor.
Looking forward to meeting many of you in person in the weeks ahead!
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