'L.A. Ink' in Minneapolis

Kat von D, tattooed pinup goddess and star of the TLC reality show "L.A. Ink," has been flying all over the country in support of her new book "High Voltage Tattoo" (HarperCollins, $30), and she wasn't quite sure if all her possessions had followed along. Being that Kat's on her way to Minneapolis for an appearance Wednesday at Barnes & Noble (5 p.m., 801 Nicollet Mail), I advised her to make sure she had a coat. "Hopefully they didn't lose my luggage," the 26-year-old artist said. Luckily she had a few minutes to chat about her book, design aesthetic and upcoming stop in Minnesota.

Q Have you been to Minnesota before?

A No, and I'm excited about that. I'm excited to see places I've never been before on the book tour and to meet fans. I'm assuming that it'll be real down-to-earth people. I've been learning from these new cities that people are really cool; L.A. people tend to get pretentious, but I'm expecting this to be a very positive event.

Q On your tour, you're flying all the time. What are your travel essentials?

A I can't fly without my laptop and iPod for sure. Lately I've been into oil painting, so I had to make a makeshift travel pack of small amounts of oil paint that I can carry on and hauling around canvas for whatever I'm working on.

Q Why a book? When was that idea conceived?

A Much like the show, the book is to show the world what tattooing is about through my view. I'm less censored throughout the book and I speak freely about a lot of things, like the show. On ["L.A. Ink"] I can't talk about the show because it breaks the walls of reality.

A I started tattooing when I was 14; I'd always been drawing since I was a kid and hanging with punk-rock kids. The "wrong crowd" you could say, got me into tattoos. Once I did the first one I knew that was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

Q If you weren't a tattoo artist, what would you be doing?

A People ask me that all the time and I don't really know. Maybe a photographer for crime scenes; I like crazy gory stuff. Or maybe some kind of a counselor. I love human interaction.

Q How do your parents feel about all your tattoos?

A I come from a very conservative family, so it was difficult for them to hang with the idea of their 14-year-old girl tattooing and hanging out with bikers and those stigmas that come with the world of tattooing. Thankfully, over a decade and a TV show later, my dad, he's really proud.

A I'd probably keep the portrait of my dad on my forearm. Since I do so much traveling, it's nice to look down and see my dad, he's my hero.

Q You have a very obvious design aesthetic and that's apparent in your TV show, book, and even your personal style. What has shaped that? What inspires you?

A The city I live in [Los Angeles] is one of my biggest inspirations. It has all the elements that I'm inspired by: art, the mixture of cultures, music and everything else. And I always say my higher power is love so I'm really inspired by love.