Badass Autumn

A book tour, an Airstream, and an open heart

Today I share an article that my long-time bestie, Autumn, wrote a few days ago after spending four days with me on my book tour. We have known each other since we were 19 years old when we worked as journalists at our college newspaper. If you’ve read any of my books you know Autumn, who is the mama of my godkids Rowan, Nash, and Kyra.

Tonight is the 24th event in our 25-city book tour (Boulder Bookstore tonight September 27, Santa Fe Unity on October 4th); I am elated and exhausted and well wrung out. I’ve just run a marathon, and I’m feeling all the feels. Looking back at our time on the road I’m amazed and awed at how many people I’ve met and how Wild, Willing, and Wise has touched so many in the two months she has been in the world.

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I am currently on a one-week stretch of a much longer book tour with my longtime best friend HeatherAsh Amara as she travels the country to promote her ninth and most recent book, Wild, Willing and Wise (St. Martin’s Essentials, 2024).

We’re currently in Eagle, Idaho, and it’s a quiet, cool evening as I sit here in Ash’s Airstream, parked at the Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. She spoke here earlier today to a good-sized audience, including a minister who said she spent the summer working with the interactive book.

If you’ve ever thought being an author is easy—you just write a book and then do book signings, right? —let’s discuss. We’re driving a big truck pulling her Airstream, and I’ve already lost track of miles. We left Davis, CA four days ago and have been to Medford and Portland in Oregon; Tri Cities, WA, and now Boise. Tomorrow, we’ll head to Salt Lake City.

Ash’s days are full. In addition to to speaking, she meets with coaching clients; teaches classes; takes multiple meetings and calls; writes for her Substack; updates social media; conducts interviews, and coordinates with her entourage (which includes staff, apprentices, musician Laura Stack, and at the moment, me). Apart from moral support, I’m trying to help with as much of the driving as I can, which entailed me successfully getting out of my own head about driving this rig. (Sidebar: it helped me feel like a badass.)

Autumn showing her bad-assery as she pulls the Airstream

First and foremost, it’s joy to have the rare luxury of time to catch up with my beloved friend, and the long miles allow us time to go deep. I enjoy watching her do what she does best, which is connect with people through teaching them new ways to access how much they already know.

But I’ve been deeply moved by a few of the experiences along the way, and that’s what I really want to write about.

Last night, for example, she spoke at Adventures Underground, a fantastic queer-friendly bookstore in Tri Cities, WA. The store boasts a wonderful cafe, and I was happy to grab a coffee and a comfy couch at the back of the room for this talk.

While I was doing that, a young person sat down next to me. I noticed they were drinking coffee, their legs bouncing and lots of fidgeting going on. After a few minutes, they seemed visibly calmer and I realized they were listening to Ash. A few minutes more, and they turned to me and politely asked if this was about a book. I grabbed a copy, told them a bit about her work, and after a few minutes more, they left.

But they came back, having purchased the book, and asked if they could sit next to me. I told them I liked their striking eye makeup; they told me they were headed for a Goth show and thought they’d glam it up. And then they said, “I was thirsty and just came in for coffee. But I think—I think what she’s saying is exactly what I need right now.” We chatted for a bit longer, and I encouraged them to speak with her and get their book signed, and Ash later shared it had been a lovely interaction.

For my part, I loved the sweet inter-generational aspect of our connection, as well as watching someone wake up to wisdom and tools that could well change the course of their life.

After the show, our group was invited to park at the home of a friend’s parents in a nearby town. The friend had let us know that so long as we left politics off the table, all should be well, and I believe the same advice was doled out to the parents.

They could not have been nicer or more gracious. Their large and comfortable home boasted plenty of parking, hook-ups for the trailers, and access to showers and laundry. We ate a grilled dinner, and had a big family-style brunch the next morning. We toured their gardens, played with their dogs, and talked nonstop.

There are some dynamics in the family that were a little challenging, and probably others it’s better I don’t know about. But the love was also evident. It  was a truly enjoyable experience, and one I’ll not soon forget.

Any one of us could have brought up something that set someone else’s teeth on edge. It’s all too easy to do in a country where we have let what divides us override what we have in common. But we didn’t, instead focusing on what we had in common: family, dogs, gardening, good food, and interesting lives full of good tales to tell. It was one of the best evenings I’ve had in a long time.

Both these stories remind me of the beauty of an open heart, of being awake to the energies and stories that are all around us.  

As she speaks to people, HeatherAsh often notes that she began writing about the archetypes of Maiden, Mother, Crone for this book, but wanted something that was less linear, and less gendered. Wild, Willing and Wise accomplishes that, focusing instead on energetic archetypes we move between at all stages of our lives.

The key, she notes, is to be aware of where we are in our wild, our willing and our wise, knowing that can each can have deficiency or excess that influence both our emotional state and and our trajectory in life.

I’ve had an extreme deficiency of wild in my life of late, and have felt that open heartedness start to slip away, replaced by anxiety and a tendency to want to control things. The connections provided by this tour, an Airstream, an open heart, and a very, very wise friend are great medicine.

Autumn Labbé-Renault (she/her) works and plays at the intersection of art, media, and community impact in Davis, California.

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Thank you to our over-the-top lovely tour team: Sarina and Mel Harz-Tolbert and Rachel Barbic; to musician Laura Stack and right-hand woman Elaine Wangler who have journeyed with me on miles and miles of road and events; to all of our hosts both at bookshops and beyond; and to my friends who joined along for parts of the journey to share driving and laughs: Franklin Cunico, Sarah Marshank, Kevin Fortune, Autumn Labbe-Renault. And to you, dearest reader.

Photo by Autumn: a behind the scenes peek of me sharing with one of our Warrior Goddess mentor’s online Wild, Willing, and Wise bookclub a few days ago.

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To get a taste of Wild, Willing, and Wise join me for Wild Willing Wise Wednesdays: a 1/2 hour teaching and Q & A session. 8 am PT, noon ET (extended now through the end of October). Comment below or respond to this article and I’ll share the zoom link with you.

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Interested in a new way to do leadership? I’m offering four free webinars Monday October 7 through Thursday October 10th on Unconditional Leadership / the Warrior Goddess Way. Come to one or all! Everyone welcome.

https://warriorgoddess.com/leadership-webinar-series/