As an author concierge, Lynda Bouchard provides Southern hospitality to traveling authors - ( July 4, 2010 - The Island Packet )

Read the full article here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2010/07/04/1294887/as-an-author-concierge-lynda-bouchard.html#ixzz0unVcV25W

Lynda Bouchard has spent her days finding directions for James Patterson. She's taken Mary Jane Clark on a walking tour of Beaufort and made travel arrangements for Dorothea Benton Frank.

Bouchard is an author concierge. The Hilton Head Island resident provides Southern hospitality to a niche market -- the published author.

If an author swings through the South on a book tour, Bouchard can be there to make sure they have a ride from the airport, a good place to eat and, in general, a smooth tour.

"I think being an author is such a great accomplishment," she said. "This is the perfect job for me."

Publishing companies hire Bouchard to serve as a sort of personal assistant for an author if he or she is traveling through the Southeast. She can be there all day any day for an author on a book tour. It's a rare job -- one that Bouchard created herself.

The Vermont native graduated with a bachelor's degree in British literature and a master's degree in broadcast communications from Boston University. But shortly after graduating, she got a job in the airline industry as a flight attendant.

The author concierge idea came about more than a decade ago when she was on a flight with Danielle Steele, who was on a book tour. The famed novelist was seeking advice on the cities she was hitting. Bouchard thought that she could use a tour guide -- someone who knew the ins and outs of the cities. Then she realized that she was that person. Her job as a flight attendant took her all over the country. She knew plenty of cities, especially those in the Southeast.