The Edinburgh International Book Festival's author logistics officer Emma Hay and me

Though there was a slight drizzle of rain, it was unseasonably warm when I landed around 10 A.M. in Edinburgh, Scotland. I was met by the Edinburgh International Book Festival's author logistics officer Emma Hay. She told me my room wouldn't be ready until noon. We dropped my bags at the hotel, then we killed a couple hours eating breakfast and touring the festival grounds.

As we approached the entrance I said to myself, "I'm at the largest book festival in the world." It actually felt a little awkward when my laminated pass said "Author" instead of musician, talent, or access-all-areas, which is typical in the music business.

There's something exciting about being a new person, in a new field, in a new place. My overactive imagination fired up. I always hear music soundtracks in my head but today I was thinking about words and pictures too. I saw a statue and thought of a scene from the film Jason and the Argonauts where a statue comes to life. Near the base of the statue was a large rubberized area covered with puddles of rain and colorful squares with phrases designed to make one think. I named it Pick Your Rain Soaked Truth and heard Teddy Pendergrass singing Harold Melvin's "Wake Everybody" in my head.

I walked into the large bookstore. I was overwhelmed. So many people and so many books - could this really be my new world? Then I entered the tent where I'll give my first performance, it reminded me of the film The Greatest Show on Earth. As my eyes scanned the room I started hearing the film's score in my head. I looked on the stage and noticed the same image that was on the rubberized area outside near the statue. In the center it simply said, The World, In Words (& Music).