ROAD VIRGINS: THE TOUR BEGINS

Major League baseball wasn't the only excitement in Tampa in October. As Floridians ginned up to the polls in one of the most hotly contested election states, Oregon-based Book Babe Ellen Heltzel left Rain Country to join Florida-based Book Babe Margo in the Sunshine State. (Plane travel is a drag, but Ellen compensated with an Atlanta layover that gave time to eat jambalaya with son Jon and his girlfriend, fellow Book Babe, Jozi Hall). In Tampa Bay, the Babes evangelized for a cause of their own: "BETWEEN THE COVERS: The Book Babes' Guide to a Woman's Reading Pleasures."

Yes, the Babes' much-awaited first book drew hordes and television cameras (let's hear it for FOX TV anchor Cynthia Smoot, who actually read the book before our interview. We love her!). At the St. Pete Times' Festival of Reading, held on the University of South Florida St. Pete campus, we rubbed shoulders  with such journalist/author types as former New York Times' staffer Rick Bragg, former St. Pete Times editorial writer Martin Dyckman and CBS-turned-NPR man Dick Meyer.

Dyckman's "A Most Disorderly Court" gives his informed and dim view of the Florida Supreme Court; Meyer has done one of those David Brookesian sociological surveys in "Why We Hate Us." (In short, the answer to the question his title poses: We're repelled by ourselves -- now there's a mental image -- because courtesy and a sense of community have been replaced by crass commercialism. Every time you step out the door, you feel as if you're dipping into the cultural equivalent of Love Canal.)

We hear you, Dick. In an effort to put the nation in detox, we're banging the drum not just for our book, but also for the cause of reading. (However, may we take this opportunity to say that "BETWEEN THE COVERS" arrives this month at a store near you? PERFECT for the inquiring mind! IDEAL for holiday gift giving!) When we talk reading, what we mean is eyes to the page, and a sustained engagement of the mind and imagination. With reading levels among teens and adults in decline, it's like the global warming of the brain. You know the drill (and we're not talking oil): People who read learn the logic and vocabulary that are the tools of thinking. Thinking is fundamental to good citizenship. Listening to TV or music on your iPod won't do it. And you can quote us.

Other authors spotted on the U of South Forida campus: N.M. Kelby, whose "Murder at the Bad Girl's Bar & Grill" spotlights that emblematic symbol of modern life, the gated community, and Matt Rothschild, whose memoir, "Dumbfounded," proves that money isn't everything -- it was the ONLY thing that protected Matt from the consequences of his misbehaving childhood self.

In addition to the festival (nice turnout for our hour in the spotlight!), Margo (the St. Petersburg-based Book Babe) and Ellen (of Portland, OR) appeared in Tampa at Inkwood Books and were guests of honor at a Sunday afternoon Athena Society Plus reception hosted by Sandy Frye. We also were interviewed by Mary and Arlene for the WMNF 88.5 Women's Show and then later taped our own monthly radio show for the station. We ate a lot of good food -- in particular, Ethiopian at Tampa's Queen of Sheba and vaguely Spanish at St. Petersburg's Red Mesa.

Ellen returned home Tuesday, with the lingering impression of Tampa as sunny, green and very, very flat. This is the kind of thing you notice when you're from the cloudy, mountainous but also very green Northwest.

Chapter Two: Coming Soon!