June 2025

Dear Readers and Friends,

Shout out to Jenny Milchman, a fellow thriller writer, (her new book is The Fairest, https://a.co/d/7YZW3Ye) who gave me the following advice: My feeling is that if you’re going to get a great deal of enjoyment from the trip, the process, the smell, the feel, the smiles, the conversations (not to be too woo woo about this), then it’s worth it. I always said that book tours might not make dollars and cents, but they definitely make dollars and sense.

She was right. I loved spending quality time with my friends and my book signings in the Washington, DC area went very well. I was treated like a celebrity at the Barnes & Noble – Fairfax on Saturday. We did a fun raffle for a gift bag that included a hardcover copy of The Spy from Beijing and also a $10 gift certificate for the store. About 20-30 people dropped tickets into the box. Stephanie, a B&N employee, drew the winning ticket—a girl named Isabella.

B&N was pleased with the number of books I sold and had me sign the rest so they could offer patrons a signed copy. It was nice to see how receptive the store employees and customers were. I hope word-of-mouth will spread.

The Winchester Book Gallery was located in Old Town Winchester (buildings in this historic district date back 250 years) and featured a quaint pedestrian mall, bursting with outdoor cafes, charming shops and specialty retail stores. On weekends there is live music at the restaurants, bars and breweries.

Half the fun was the interesting people I met and the icing on the cake was that most of them bought my book. I also left a gift bag as well as more signed copies for bookstore patrons. Credit goes to my friend Eleanor who snapped the photos.

The Winchester Book Gallery sold what they called a “Blind Date.” The book was wrapped in paper and on the front was the first line of the book. A patron would buy the book based on the first sentence. Bookstore employees decided which books were included and each one had a favorite. Thought it was a great idea.

My boyfriend Bill thankfully helped me navigate the Metro in DC. On Wednesday morning, we walked 15 minutes uphill from the Metro stop to the Politics & Prose Bookstore. While the clerks often seemed suspicious and didn’t want their photo taken, I was introduced to Nicole, the marketing manager, who very graciously accepted the gift bag from me. Afterward, Bill and I headed down-stairs to The Den, a coffee & winebar shop, for a needed break.

The next stop was Kramer’s bookstore, which is located near Dupont Circle and Embassy Row so it gets a lot of international customers. Again, the clerk seemed suspicious. The photo shows me handing a gift bag to Andrew who was very kind and smiled as if he had won the lottery. Kramer’s had a restaurant connected to it, called All Day, where we ate eggs benedict and sipped dry roasted coffee.

Although my shirt and bra were drenched from the high humidity, we trudged to a third bookstore called Bridge Street Books which is located in Georgetown. The owner, Rod, was out that day, so I left a gift bag with the clerk who did not want her picture taken.

On Thursday, we visited the International Spy Museum. They gave us a codeword to sign into some interactive exhibits. For example, one showed what you’d look like in a disguise. We also saw Bond in Motion which were vintage cars used in James Bond movies. The museum was interesting but I also thought it was a tad bit overrated.

Here is a picture of my Spokane boyfriend who was very excited to see me upon my return.

And here are what some reviewers said about my book:

“This book delves into the possibilities of espionage in China mixed with twists of family loyalty. It was a thought-provoking story and fascinating to tap into the current fear of China mining personal data. Joan has done a great job of keeping the reader engaged throughout the book!”

“I fully enjoyed this book from cover to cover. Intriguing storyline with unexpected twists and turns throughout. I normally don’t read spy and espionage books but am happy I read this one as it was easy to read and to follow the story line. I had never thought about all the difficult and impossible dilemmas when working undercover. And, an added bonus of finding family along the way. I’ll read more of Joan Kop’s books.”

Thank you to all who took the time to write/leave a review. The best way you can support me is to write an honest review. Positive reviews help sell more books.