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Ace and Roc editors will be hanging out at Penguin Group's booth at this year's New York Comic-Con, which is happening this very weekend (April 18-20). For all of you planning to attend the convention, be sure to come and visit our booth-which, after consultation with Ace's resident astrologists and Roc's resident numerologists, has been assigned the lucky number 1941.

Some of your favorite Ace and Roc authors will also be in attendance, signing... FREE books! Who said there's no such thing as a free book in this town?

New York Times bestselling author Jim Butcher will be at our booth signing FREE copies of Furies of Calderon (while supplies last) on Saturday at 3:30. Furies of Calderon is the first in Jim's stirring Codex Alera epic fantasy series.

After six weeks of intense promotion, the Big Green Purse book tour has taken me to a dozen bookstores in as many locations. Though my stops have included the national chains, just as often, I've been delightfully hosted by independent book shops that are long on charm, enthusiasm and a genuine philosophical understanding of my book's "power of the purse" message.

The tour didn't start off very auspiciously. We "launched" at Philadelphia's Big Blue Marble, no doubt a terrific spot for an author Reading-unless it's pouring rain and the night of the gripping Potomac Primary, both of which dampened turnout for my event there. Nonetheless, the store's managers couldn't have been more gracious. If everyone is as friendly as Big Blue Marble, I thought, Big Green Purse will do just fine.

At Olsson's in Washington, D.C., the crowd was small, but engaged. I realized that people don't come to a book signing just to learn from the author. They also want to share what they know. This was true in spades at another D.C. event, held at Hoopla, an eco-boutique that specializes in products made from fair trade and recycled materials. In a room packed with thirty-something professionals, seasoned lawyers, neighborhood curiosity-seekers, and the store's erstwhile shoppers, I read for just a few minutes so we could get to the fun - the back-and-forth dialogue among people who are trying their best to live and shop with the earth in mind. The event was enriched when, to my surprise, the couple who sell free-range eggs and meats at my local farmer's market showed up to talk about "being green" from a farmer's point of view.