Why is Jan Karon not coming to Charlotte to read or sign books?

Jan Karon

Here's what I want to know: Why is Jan Karon not coming to Charlotte to promote her new novel, "Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good," her first Mitford novel in years?
After all, Karon lived in Charlotte as a teenager, and for years she was here as an adult, working in advertising.

Just look at her schedule.
Tuesday of this week she was in Birmingham.
Wednesday in Lexington, Ky.
Today, Thursday, Dallas.
Friday, Wichita, Kansas.
Saturday, Decatur, Ga.
Sunday, at least she'll be in the state, at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh.

What gives? I asked Park Road Books manager Frank Burleson.
"We have no control over where the publicist sends her," he says. "We have a hard time landing major authors sometimes. Sometimes we have great luck. We've had Anne Rice, Pat Conroy. It just depends. Sometimes they will send them out of their normal area trying to increase their readership and sales. They know she's going to sell in North Carolina.
"I wish they had sent her this way," he says. "We could have sold a lot of books."