By the time you get this, I will be offline for two weeks. After an intense five weeks of teaching and book tour, I’m taking a break before gearing up for the fall. In the larger world, and in my own career, things are heating up as we head into August and I’m really looking forward to some time to connect with my family before we all hit the ground running again.
It’s been a little over a month since my book came out and I could not have anticipated what a wonderful summer this would be. It began a few days before launch, when I got a flurry of texts and emails from friends because the New York Times named We Were Illegal one of “19 Nonfiction Books to Read This Summer”—shout out to my Viking-book-launch-day twin, Dr. Fauci, who was also named and is obviously my new best friend. The day before the book launch, the New York Times Book Review said it was, “A stirring mixture of memoir, genealogy, history and hopeful manifesto…Goudeau is unsparing in her determination to tell ‘hard truths’ about the past that school curriculums and family genealogies did not always teach her.” And Kirkus gave it a starred review with my absolute favorite quote: “An invigorating history that will displease legislators and would-be despots throughout the Lone Star State. Expect to see bans of this powerful book, one that every Texan should read.”
(The print version of the NYTBR, which came out a few weeks later.)
The book officially released on June 18, and my first bookstore event was in Abilene, Texas, my beloved hometown. Our family friends started the absolute cutest bookstore in the world, Seven & One Books, that I would have died to have had as a kid; the store owner, Arlene, has known me since I was eight.
And the extraordinary woman in conversation with me, filmmaker Alisha Taylor, is someone I have known since she was eight.
My mom, some of my best friends, and my cousins were there and we packed the room. It was the best way to start the book tour.
The next day, I came home to Austin for one night and spoke at my beloved favorite, BookPeople, with my fierce and inspiring friend, Alexa Ura. There’s nothing like a home crowd at a book event because I could look out across the room and see people from every part of my life—writer friends and neighborhood friends and refugee resettlement friends, my hair dresser, people I’ve known all my life. The line took forever because I hugged every single person (shout out to the people who didn’t know me but got a hug anyway! We got real chummy!).
And then I got up the next morning at 3:00 am and left for New York.
That Thursday, I had a rare, perfect New York day. I roamed around the city with my brother, Jay, and sister-in-law, Mary Kate, who live there; few friendships are more rewarding than adult siblings. Mary Kate went with me to ABC Studios, where she talked to my amazing publicist, Kristina Fazzalaro, about other books at Viking (like Barbra Streisand’s memoir—Babs is also my best friend, don’t worry) while I was in hair and makeup.
I had a brief, wonderful interview with Linsey Davis and left a little dazed by it all.
We went next to say Jay on Broadway; he worked from debut to close as a stage hand for The Heart of Rock & Roll, and I got to catch his closing weekend. We went out for drinks and dinner afterwards.
I signed his book and he signed my Playbill and we toasted to two hometown Texas kids having a big night in New York.
The next day, I had some meetings in New York. Texas Monthly published an excerpt of the book: “The Texas Ranger Who Helped a Serial Killer Go Free.” And I headed to Wilkes to teach for ten days.
I’ve written before about Wilkes and what this program means to me, so I’ll just say—the residency was typically amazing. By far the highlight was recording a live podcast episode with Maureen Corrigan for “The Beautiful and Banned.” Maureen is one of the most thoughtful people I’ve ever met and we had the best time with her. When we release that episode, I’ll write more about it.
I came back to a quiet, contemplative 4th and then four more events.
In Dallas, at the Half-Price Books flagship store, with Ruth Graham from the New York Times who is gracious and brilliant. I got to see so many friends, including Roxanna Asgarian and college friends; it was such a joyful night.
In Houston, at Brazos Bookstore, with Yaffa Fredrick from the Houston Chronicle, who asked piercing, insightful questions.
In San Antonio, at Nowhere Bookshop, where I got to celebrate with my dad, his wife, and several friends, and be in conversation with badass Texas novelist, Kim Garza.
In Waco, at the absolutely adorable Fabled Bookshop, with my cousin Derran, and in conversation with Kerri Fisher, the Associate Dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Baylor, and ended the book tour with a deep, hopeful conversation.
The highlight of those events was definitely the readers—the rooms were packed (except for Houston—it was incredible to me that ANYONE came a few days after a hurricane). I kept having in-depth conversations with many people, some who had already read the book, about how they resonated with these stories: we love Texas, we want complexity and nuance, and we still have hope. It was invigorating for me.
Time Magazine published another book excerpt, “What I Want My Kids to Know about Our Family’s Dark History.”
There are other things—podcasts and interviews, some that are already out and some that are forthcoming—but that’s enough for now. I got word on Friday that We Were Illegal was a NYTBR Editors’ Choice pick for the week, and I’m ending this first phase of the book launch exhausted and delighted. I’m especially grateful to my editor, Emily Wunderlich, and Kristina Fazzalaro, Bridget Gilleran, Magdalena Deniz, Raven Ross, Mary Stone, and Carlos Zayas-Pons at Viking, and as always, my agent, Mackenzie Brady Watson.
I’ll come back in August, hopefully ready to face the tornado season of a national election. Until then, thank you all for your support!