Cally recap

I’m back from my week in the Bay Area. The trip was both hectic and lovely. I’d forgotten that there are places in the world where you can go a week without seeing rain. I caught up with old friends, ate a lot of burritos (in Seattle, the choices are limited to Taco Bell and Taco Del Mar), and stared at Mt. Tam a lot, which was in plain view from the Marin cottage I stayed in, courtesy of my friend Marcy, who was out of town herself. Some trip highlights:

Events: People came. Turnouts were good. I managed to elicit a couple chuckles from the crowd. And sell a few books. All in all, things went well. And Habitat Books and Borders sure know how to make a writergirl feel special. For that, I am very grateful.

Media: I did several radio and TV spots while in town, including a location shoot for the ABC afternoon show “View from the Bay” (sandwiched between “GH” and “Oprah”). Also included in the segment is freelance-pal-turned-mompreneur Deirdre Greene, who now runs the publishing company Roaring Forties Press. We did the interview at Deirdre’s house to show off her nifty home office. I’ll letcha know when that spot airs — it should be fun.

Meanwhile, check me out on the Morning Show on KPFA radio, with Elaine Lee, author of Go Girl! The Black Woman’s Book of Travel and Adventure, mentioned in my book. We were interviewed together about alternative career paths, especially self-employment and travel gigs. (Note: The interview’s at 8:30 a.m., though the show starts at 7.) And here’s a morning news spot I did on KRON 4 TV the Saturday before Easter; I think I could have used another cup of coffee — oops. More than anything, I’m sorry they cut out the anchors singing Dolly Parton’s “Nine to Five” at the top of the spot — complete with jazz hands!

Meetups: Met Jill Rothenberg, my book’s fabulous editor who’s no longer at Seal Press, and camped out at the offices of Urban Moto magazine with her (she freelances for them) so I could steal some wireless time. Visited the Seal Press crew, too. Saw my friend Jeff Perlstein, who runs Media Alliance. And spent some time with these fabulous authors/bloggers/webmistresses you should know about:

• Anastasia Goodstein, Ypulse blogger and author of a new book, Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens Are Really Doing Online
• Rachel Sarah, author of Single Mom Seeking: Playdates, Blind Dates and Other Dispatches from the Dating World
• Helene Taylor, publisher of the website The Modern Woman’s Divorce Guide

Biggest lesson learned: Not being wired is a drag. It was crazy (OK, dumb) to think I wouldn’t need high-speed Internet access 24-7 while trying to coordinate interview plans with my publisher and various media producers. Happily, I already checked with the east coast pals I’ll be staying with in May and they all have wireless. Phew.

3 comments April 10th, 2007