Adventures in San Francisco

I'm finally out from under the deluge of e-mail (and plain ol' snail mail) that accumulated last week, and I've properly assured Tipper the Wonder Poodle that I'm going to pay lots of attention to her this week, so time to post the San Francisco update!

Got in on Tuesday and quickly located Terri Clark and Lynda Sandoval, my partners in crime (and, with Ellen Hopkins, my co-authors on Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.) We went shopping, cruised over to Castro to see the neighborhood, then went back to the Ferry Building Marketplace for coffee and some decadent sourdough cheese wheels. (Lynda ended up buying a whole bag of cheese wheels to bring back to the hotel. Not that we mocked her or anything.)

That night, we donned our "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" T-shirts and hit McAfee Stadium to see the Oakland A's take on the Kansas City Royals. Check out our book on the big screen!



Wednesday was RWA's "Readers for Life" booksigning for literacy. Over 500 authors signed books, with all proceeds going to literacy charities. Check out Terri signing her first copies of Sleepless! The book will be in stores any day now, so keep an eye out for it. If you enjoyed Ter's story in Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, you'll love diving into Sleepless. She sold a ton of copies at the literacy signing!






Another major highlight of the night for me was getting to see Maryam Mehrkhast, who was my best friend in fifth and sixth grade (until I moved, thanks to my dad's Army career.) Maryam and I were inseparable in those days, and it was incredible to get to see her again. The way we were chatting, you'd never know it'd been so long since we'd seen each other. She's still gorgeous inside and out.


During the two-hour event, I got to meet a lot of readers and I signed a slew of books (when I wasn't catching up with Maryam!) She took this picture of me talking to readers while I signed copies of Goddess Games. (And, for those of you who missed the event, but want an autographed book, it's not too late! You can send me a self-addressed, stamped envelope and request autographed bookplates to stick in the front of your Niki book(s.) Just tell me how many you want! All the info is on my site, right here.)

Thursday and Friday passed in a blur, and Saturday night was the Golden Heart/RITA Awards Ceremony and reception. Lynda and Terri and I got dolled up, though Lynda had to have very good posture or risk a Janet Jackson moment in her dress:



We let Lynda take this one, as she said she felt safer behind the camera:



Thankfully, all three of us made it through the night with no wardrobe malfunctions!

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.