Weekend in Denver

Remember how I said tickets on Stubhub to the Rockies NLCS games at Coors Field were so much less expensive than trying to get seats to see the Red Sox here at Fenway? Well....I ended up cashing in the frequent flyer miles, hitting up my parents for a place to stay (thanks, Mom & Dad!) and flying to Colorado to see Sunday night's game three. Total cost, including four tickets thirty-one rows behind the Rockies dugout, road tolls and airport parking? About $900. An equivalent seat at Fenway--one seat--will set you back the same amount or more.

As you might guess, I had a blast. Took this shot of the water-soaked field between innings with my cell phone, as the grounds crew worked to add layers of dry dirt to the base paths:



They did a great job given the constant rain. I lucked out, seating-wise. We were exactly two rows under the awning. The D-back fans two rows in front of us got soaked, we stayed (mostly) dry. My flight home yesterday got me in at 12:33 ET, meaning I had to race home to see the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth inning of game four...and wow, was it worth it! Any team that can win twenty-one out of twenty-two games deserves to go to the big show. On top of that, they won an amazing seven straight postseason games, have a likely Rookie of the Year in Troy Tulowitzki, a possible Cy Young winner in Jeff Francis, and a (please, please, please) National League MVP in Matt Holliday.

Congrats, Rockies! Can't wait to see the World Series played in Colorado (hopefully without snow!)

Two Interviews, A Website, and Those Yankees

I'll attack the last part first. I saw a news poll on one of Boston's television stations yesterday afternoon that said 71% of Red Sox fans wanted to have the Sox face the Cleveland Indians in the American League Championship Series, rather than face the New York Yankees. After last night's game, they're getting their wish. But I have to wonder why they felt this way. IMO, either team would be tough. I was just hoping the series between the Yankees and the Indians would go the full five games so the advancing team would be tired before arriving in Boston.

Last StubHub check: cheapest tix to the Boston/Cleveland game are running $293 for the nosebleed section of the bleachers. A good seat near the action is running $2718.

On the other hand, the cheapest tix to the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks first playoff game start at $40. Not great seats, but still. What a price differential. I think I could almost get the airfare out west and a game ticket for what it'd cost me to get one ticket to see the Sox. Insane.

However, I have tres coolio news! First, I e-mailed the revisions on my upcoming novella, Last Stand, to my editor this morning. (Did ya hear the woot-woot sounds?! LOVE when I have a project wrapped!)

Second, Joy Siegel of Working Palms Radio Magazine in South Florida has asked to do an interview with me. It will air down there on the following stations:

WLVJ - 1040AM
WFTL - 850AM
WMEN - 640AM
WFLL - 1400AM

As soon as I know the exact dates and times, I'll post 'em here. I'm also doing an interview with the fantastic Cynthia Leitich Smith for her popular Cynsations blog. Again, as soon as I know the exact date the interview goes live, I'll post it here.

Speaking of live, you've gotta check out Lynda Sandoval's new website, which re-launched today. I think it's one of the best I've ever seen. (And if you haven't read Lynda's books yet--either for teens or for adults--you're missing out.)



And a P.S.: Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me to tell me that Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper IS a seasonal release (I'll stock up next year!) and that Diet Cherry Coke is not. I'll go hunting for that Diet Cherry Coke now and hope they don't replace it with Cherry Coke Zero, which is way too sweet for me.