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 So
we got a chance to premiere the book there, weeks before
it hit the bookshelves. This was my first chance to
actually SEE the book in a customer's hands, and HEAR
their reaction. It was wonderful.
Photo: The table, ready for Lizard Lovers. Cory
made the cutout lizard behind the table to help stop
traffic.
I'll never forget the first
moment I saw a child pick up the book. It was maybe
an hour into the event, before most of the public had
even entered the hall. She was around four years old,
beautiful eyes, and her name was, ironically, Noel.
Her mother kneeled down to turn the pages, and they
smiled as they looked at it together. Vicki and I were
almost teary-eyed messes. That's what it's all about
- A story in front of a kid.
DECEMBER 1, ON THE AIR:
WGNR RADIO - INDIANAPOLIS, IN
I visited with Craig Boyer for an hour
on the morning show. These are guys that laugh a lot,
so I became "comedy Cory" as much as possible.
I gave away some books on the air with a lizard trivia
question. As this show was their weekly remote broadcast
from their booth at a Moody Bookstore, I stayed to sign
books afterward. As we wrapped up, the first snowflakes
of the holidays started to fall.
DECEMBER 2, LIVE REPTILES, MILK, AND COOKIES:
GAITHER FAMILY RESOURCES, ALEXANDRIA, IN
When the Gaithers host an author signing
at their bookstore, it is an event. They even built
a new room for author appearances, with a stage and
seating area. It was a big deal. The zoo-mobile from
the Indianapolis Zoo "opened" for me with
a display of live lizards: a bearded dragon, a gecko,
and a blue-tounged skink! Ooos and aahs all around from
the packed house.
After the excitement, I sat up on a stool and did my
first live reading of the book. I had rehearsed this
a few times, to get the feel of it and practice some
of the character voices. (I try to dramatize the story
as much as I can when I read it.) And once again, this
first public reading was very emotional. When I got
to the end where the angel appears, my mom and Vicki
lost it. That time, and many times after, I had to concentrate
on the words themselves, so as not to get choked up
myself. It's really weird to say that, since it's something
I've read over a thousand times to myself. But in that
setting, for those kids, the words had new meaning.
The kids were hooked, and afterward, enjoyed refreshments
as I began signing away with my gold paint pen.
 DECEMBER
2, THE LIZARD ON STAGE: PARAMOUNT THEATER - ANDERSON,
INDIANA
For the Anderson community's annual
Festival of Trees Charity Event, there is a children's
program where a different author is highlighted each
year. This year it was me! It was a fantastic venue
to read in: the historic renovated Paramount Theater,
with its carved gold walls and starry high ceiling.
For the first time, a video version of the illustrations
was added, which played behind me for the larger crowd
to see. Anderson University senior Sarah Scharbrough
provided the perfect background piano accompaniment,
giving the read an enchanting mood. A big thanks to
Janet Brandon for bringing me in for this event!
DECEMBER 3, A BLAST FROM THE PAST
MEADOW PARK CHURCH - COLUMBUS, OH
We drove across state lines to visit
the church I grew up in. As I sat in the service there
for the first time in fifteen years, it felt like a
dream. Many of the faces had changed, but most hit me
like a high school reunion. As I signed the book in
the foyer after the service, it was a real trick to
keep the line moving while saying thirty seconds of
something meaningful to people I hadn't seen in a decade.
When the line thinned, a few kids talked me into more
elaborate drawings along with my signature in their
books...like lizards playing soccer or karate.
This was a great visit. Members of the Meadow Park Church
generously bought so many books that we emptied every
box we brought. The trip was made incredibly pleasurable
by Patty "Free Food On Demand" Lilly and the
whole Lilly family; Pastors Bob Mathis and Jim Cook;
and the cheerfully helpful church staff.
 The
biggest challenge at this appearance was the reading
of the book at the Hanging Of The Greens ceremony in
the evening. Somehow, there were too many kids under
four (it seemed like a hundred), and they almost overpowered
me when they gathered around up front. By the end of
the book, they had squirmed and grabbed at me enough
to have slowly driven me backwards, almost to the manger
display. At one point, the thought crossed my mind to
throw the book into the writhing mob and run, but I
dug in and finished. It's like Abe Lincoln says, "You
can read to some of the two year olds some of the time,
but not a lot of them at once."
DECEMBER 9, THE BIG TIME:
BARNES & NOBLE - TULSA, OK
How can I describe the feeling of walking
into a Barnes and Noble to sign my book? Pretty amazing.
It really felt like the big time. I sat in the children's
section to read out loud, and there I was, surrounded
by Dr. Seuss, Curious George and The Wild Things. This
was the second leg of our trip, traveling to Oklahoma,
my home turf for ten years. It was a nice surprise to
see familiar faces from Forest Ridge, the church Vicki
and I attended when we were first married. Manager Ann
Thrasher paved the way for a very smooth time at this
book signing. "Can I get you a water? Some hot
chocolate? An employee discount?" I really felt
pampered. She also did an amazing job of promoting the
book signing before, during, and even after the event.
Thank you Ann.
Then it was on to the next store, in a mad rush...
FAMILY BOOKSTORE - TULSA, OK
This was a crunch day, and I was a little
late. Running through the sleet, I was greeted by more
familiar faces who had come for more than just a copy
of the book. Pat Judd and several folks from Honor Books/River
Oak Publishing (The Christmas Lizards' publisher) came
by to say congratulations and find out the latest happenings
from Los Angeles. Again, I had the challenge of catching
up with old friends in the midst of signing books. After
a long day of this, my face almost hurt from smiling
so much. Through all of the appearances, I felt that
each person I greeted should receive "maximum friendliness"
from me. Be social, social, social, smile, smile, smile!
Vicki agreed that maybe next year we won't schedule
book signings back to back - six hours of smiling can
take a lot out of you.
DECEMBER 10, A LITTLE COMEDY WITH YOUR LIZARD?:
BELIEVERS CHURCH - TULSA, OK
We experienced an unexpected juggernaut
of sales and signatures here. The people absolutely
mobbed the table. Again, we sold out of every book we
had, and had to take orders. The bonus of appearing
at my Tulsa home church was being a part of their big
Christmas service, which is always filled with music
and comedy. I got to read the book to a children's choir
surrounding me, and then did a little schtick in between
musical numbers with my friend and old partner in comedy,
Mark Steele. It was some "Smothers Brothers banter"
we had worked out beforehand, and it got some big laughs.
It felt good to clown around like that with Mark again.
I've got to say thank you here to Pastor David Grothe
and the staff for their immeasurable help and hospitality,
and to Michael Gungor for the amazing last-minute guitar
accompaniment for the reading. Oh, and Mark, someday
you're going to just SNAP...and no one will know the
difference.
DECEMBER 12, A ONE-MAN SHOW:
LEISURE PART ELEMENTARY SCHOOL &
NEW ADVENTURES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - TULSA, OK
I was nervous about these appearances,
because I had to do more than just read my book. I had
to fill forty minutes in four different assemblies to
kids ranging from kindergarten to fourth grade. There
were up to three hundred kids in some of the groups.
So I worked up a fun talk on what makes a story. I showed
the kids that most stories start by just making things
up in your head. Then I had them pick elements such
as location and characters, and then proceeded to tell
a unique story based on what they had come up with.
I drew illustrations, and used silly costumes and hats
they picked out of a prop basket to act out the story
as the characters.
I was basically doing improv comedy for grade schoolers,
in a very young nightclub. But as I went through this
several times, I found it to be very enjoyable. Kids
respond just like adults in any L.A. comedy club. You
hit the right punchlines, they laugh. If you toss a
chair like a gorilla, they laugh more. I did enough
material about Harry Potter and boring math problems
to be a big hit.
By the time I left, these kids wanted my autograph.
My niece and nephew, being students at Leisure Park
Elementary, thought this was great. As far as they were
concerned, their uncle was as big as a rock star. But
what was even better was that maybe, for an instant,
I helped these kids glimpse the possibilities of their
imaginations. Maybe they took home a brand new idea
for a story all their own. I'll never know, but I can
hope.
DECEMBER 16, THE BALLOON IS POPPED:
BARNES & NOBLE - MANHATTAN BEACH, CA
Just when you get intoxicated with your
own momentum, a truly pathetic experience can slam it
all to a halt. Back in Los Angeles, this had to be the
most depressing, deflating appearance on the tour. I'd
like to personally thank the Manhattan Beach Barnes
& Noble for making me feel more like an interruption
in their schedule than an actual guest. The lady with
whom Vicki had booked my appearance wasn't even there
that day, and no one seemed to know much about a book
signing. Vicki had to go find a table herself and have
an employee help her drag it out, just so I'd have a
place to sign...sign for the ten people who actually
showed up.
I don't know if you've ever seen "This Is Spinal
Tap", but it was an exact duplicate of that scene
in the record store, where the band is just sitting
there, staring at the ceiling. Eventually, it all became
funny to us. They had set me up in the children's section,
so kids are wandering around me, playing with legos.
The overhead speakers were playing some incredibly sad
opera music. Somewhere, in the distance, a baby was
crying. Wow, this was NOT the big time.
On the way out, a cashier excitedly told me that California
talk-radio personality Larry Elder would be in the store
signing his new book the next week. I actually felt
myself wishing I was as cool as him, or at least that
the bookstore had excitedly promoted my book signing
the same way.
I'd been high, I'd been low. And we had one last appearance,
with three hundred books left in our living room.
DECEMBER 17, THE LAST HURRAH:
CALVARY COMMUNITY CHURCH - WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA
I have to say, as the final stop on
the tour, this was a nice little present from God. First
of all, this was one of the largest churches I'd ever
been to. Huge. I read the book in two children's services,
each hosting about two hundred kids, and they were two
of the best child audiences of that size I've ever read
to. They were LOCKED on me like a laser sight, and they
all must have run straight to their parents afterward,
because we couldn't sell books fast enough.
We sold every single book we had. Every last one. And
the weirdest part was that we ran out at precisely
the
same time the crowd did. I mean the lobby emptied out,
we had one book left, and a single straggler wandered
up to buy it. And then we were done. Talk about God
moving in mysterious ways.
I'd like to give special thanks to Tim Smith, Tim Bernstein,
Georgeanne Winston, and all the wonderful, generous
people at Calvary Community Church. As a visitor, everyone
had good things to say to me. Many kids came up to talk
to me about what they liked in the story, and who their
favorite character was. If anyone is looking for a church
in the Westlake Village area, I definitely recommend
this one.
DECEMBER 22, BACK ON THE AIR:
106.9 K-HITS RADIO - TULSA, OK
Even though I had to fly back to L.A.,
Tulsa's major pop radio station was good enough to grant
me a phone interview on the air. Mike Emery and Carly
Rush did their morning drive thing, talked up the book,
and gave away some copies. This was the first appearance
that consisted of me rolling out of bed and picking
up the phone. Maybe I could phone in all of my appearances
next year...
LOOKING BACK:
There were many times during this whirlwind
when I was stopped in my tracks by a little kid wanting
to hug me or hand me a lizard drawing of their own.
These were moments that demanded I sit up and pay attention
to what this book had given me: connection to the kid
world again.
A truly defining moment capped off this tour, in the
final minutes of my last live appearance. After reading
the story to the Calvary kids' service, the children's
pastor asked the young crowd some follow-up questions.
"What did the Nutcracker say Christmas was about?
What did the elves say? Who said Christmas was about
helping people? What about the angel?" And the
kids answered every time.
They got it. All of it. They got every part of what
the story was about. It made me want to cry, just because
something as simple as this story could stick with them
so immediately. A seedling of an idea had grown to become
this vibrant, living thing that these kids were drawn
to. And many of them said they would read their copy
of the book every Christmas as a family. That's an overwhelming
thing to be a part of, and I am beyond thankful for
it.
A huge thanks to Jonathan Martin for amazing paintings
that jump off the page and pull both kids and adults
into the book. Thank you to everyone who hosted us on
our weary trek. And most of all, thanks over and over
to the kids and adults and family and friends who have
made this book all that I dreamed it could be. Oscar
can't wait to leave his cage again in 2001.
Cory Edwards
January 28, 2001
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THE
LIZARD ON TOUR
OCTOBER
12, LIZARD LAUNCH: 
