Am I back?

I must be. I'm at least sitting in my family room.

We got in last night around 7:00 p.m. which was just early enough to unpack the car, wander through the house wondering how I left it in such a mess, start a load of laundry and discover the dryer vent needed to be vacuumed out again, and finally rummage through the pantry and ice chest for something approximating dinner.

So even though I'm here, I'm still kind of sleep-walking, trying not to admit I'm back to chores and commitments. I'd show you pictures of the idyllic mountains, still dotted with snow, and the crystalline lakes that are uber-cold, but I didn't take any. Here's a picture from 2004 of our children, enjoying the stream that runs through the lodge:

The boy in the middle back is Thor. He's 21 now. His brother Nick, front center, just graduated from high school, as well as Alanna, to the right. Marcus is on the left, looking so much smaller than today's version, a sophomore at CSULB.

I don't have pictures of them this year, although Dale might. As odd as it sounded, it was painful for me to think of them as growing up and going off. Thor hasn't been able to join us since he graduated from high school. Who knows who will be able to join us next year.

Yes, it's fun to see them become fine young men and women. Yes, I know they must become adults. But look back at that picture, feel the innocence and tell me it doesn't hurt to see them slip away.

In addition to the mountains, the ladies took a day to scamper over to Portola and shop. I stuck my head in Kelly Peroni's indy shop, High Sierra Books. This is what I found:

Too cool, yes? I'm right next to Lee Child. Kelly ordered more books, which is even more cool.

To cap everything off, we had a one-nighter in downtown Sacramento.

I loved-loved-loved walking around the neighborhood with the dog, and on Sunday morning, I went on a tour of the old Governor's Mansion. I love touring old neighborhoods and houses and hearing all about how people lived.

Before we left, I made my family walk back over to the mansion and take a picture of me and Duffy. The mansion WAS only across the street from our hotel, and the Governor DOES have a Corgi.

Yes, I know he doesn't live in the mansion, but still. Corgis rule.

And now, as Dale said when he turned on Hell's Kitchen when we came home, "Back to reality."

So - anyone else want to share what you did on summer vacation?

What an adventure: Day Two

My original plan for Friday was to stop in Auburn at The Book Haven to ask if they liked my book, then drive to the Gray Eagle Lodge and say hello to all the folks, poke my head in at High Sierra Books and Gifts in Portola to share a laugh with Kelly, and be in Quincy by 4:30 p.m.

Around five o'clock Thursday night, I began to re-think that. When I reviewed my Mapquest notes, it dawned on me that I would not have nearly enough time for all of these little visits, so I went to Plan B.

I called an old friend who lives in Auburn to see if she'd meet me for an early lunch. Meri and I shared an office when we were both software engineers at Hughes Aircraft Company. We became friends, hung out together, and have kept in touch by Christmas cards since she moved to the Sacramento area, about 18 years ago. It's possible I hadn't seen her since Marcus was born and she visited me in the hospital, but I won't swear to that.

While I waited to meet her, I stopped in at the Book Haven and asked about my book. In August, I'd given a copy of Freezer Burn to the very enthusiastic store manager, who said she'd read it immediately and pass it on to the owner. As it turns out, the manager might have been more enthusiastic about returning to college; she left without completing the task. The owner did not recall seeing my book. She took all my information, swore it had to be in the store somewhere, and said she'd get back to me. Yes, I've already sent her the follow-up email.

Oh, well. I still had some time to kill, so I drove to the Placer County Library and got the buyer's name for mystery books. On my way there, I passed some peculiar statues.

Not only is she nearly naked, she is larger than most planets. Just ask her sister:

The tableau indicates that they are gunning for this guy. I have no idea what his crime is, unless his chain-rattling is keeping them up at night. God knows it'd make me cranky.

According to Meri, they have to hire extra chaperones to ride the school bus, just to put their hands over the children's eyes when they drive past.

I arrived at Epilog Books in Quincy about an hour early, which was fine. Christine Crawford, the owner, was happy to see me. I met her husband, and the young woman who works in the store. Everyone was friendly and loved chatting, which meant I had come to the right place. Unfortunately, Quincy on a Friday night is not exactly a hotbed of activity. There were eight people on the street, four of which came into the store, and I sold two books. But I'm not complaining - here were the highlights:

1. I met a firefighter who had just returned from battling the Station Fire in north L.A., and I was able to thank him profusely.
2. I met a darling boy of about 12, who is also an author and we exchanged ideas on how to improve our writing.

3. I had a great time with Chris and her hubby and would go back there in a New York minute.
4. She placed my book next to the new Dan Brown - what great advertising!

5. I sold two books.

One story about the young boy, James: we were trying to explain Dean Martin to him, describing his singing and acting and style. James looked very thoughtful for a moment, then remarked, "So, Dean Martin is the prehistoric Elvis."

This made me feel old enough, until he added, "Of course, Elvis is the prehistoric Michael Jackson."

If I could, I'd insert the sound of a woman weeping here. A really old woman. Crone-ish.

At the end of it all, I drove 76 miles of narrow, twisting road in ink-darkness from Quincy to Oroville, keeping a sharp lookout for deer while my contacts glued themselves to my eyes. I pulled into Oroville, wanting dinner and a bed. Both the desk clerk at the Motel 6 and the manager at the Cornucopia restaurant wanted to know what brought me to town. They didn't have the cash for a book, but I ended up giving them bookmarks and cards.

It was a great way to end the day.

I'm back!

Did you miss me? I missed you. Yes, especially you - the guy in the back row with the Buddy Holly glasses and the fake vampire teeth.

Those are fake, right?

We got home about 8-ish last night, there's no food in the house, and I'm feeling the very special lethargy that accompanies an 8-hour car trip home from a week's vacation and the desire to sleep in when you know Real Life awaits. There is unpacking, laundry, groceries - oh, yeah, and book "stuff" to do.

So here's a quick snapshot before I start separating the whites from the colors:

1. New column - if you want to know more about the book launch party, check out my column in the Placentia News-Times. The fun thing about being a columnist is that, if you're any good, you get a following. The bad thing is that, when I asked my editor for press coverage, she sent... me. "Since you're already going to be there, can you just cover it in your column?" Sure.

2. Guest blogging - Please do check out the I Love Dino Martin blog today. Mr. Dino Martin Peters (may I call you Pallie, DMP?) allowed me to blather on about why my character, Benny Needles, loves Dean Martin so much. Mr. Peters is being an absolute darling about promoting Freezer Burn on his site, and I'm insanely happy that he loved the book. He even reviewed it on his blog here.

3. Vacation ops - while I was up in the mountains, I wasn't just resting on my laurels. I contacted three bookstores about ordering my book and having me come back to do a meet 'n' greet. High Sierra Books bought three copies I had with me, and I gave Epilog Books and The Book Haven complimentary copies for their review. I figure, if the store owner reads it and likes it, she'll want to stock it, yes? All three stores were very positive and I now have to plan a trip back for early fall. Yes, they are small stores, but I'm going to try for the larger cities in the (Sacramento) area as well.

4. Reviews - In addition to Mr. Peters' lovely review, I actually have a (positive) review on Amazon, which is good to see. I've also had two reviews by local Placentia residents, who had this to say:

"Watch out Travis McGee and Kinsey Millhone, Peri Minneopa of Placentia is about to knock your socks off with her gum shoe skills. She may be 50, but it is a young 50, thank you. Her latest adventure was a fast, fun read. The reader picked it up at 11am today and only put it down when interrupted to take care of visitors and do the manly Sunday meat preparation thing. He finished at the sound of D-Land fireworks at 9:30. He normally watches the PBS mystery at 9:00 with his wife, but tonight it was pre-empted by a do-wop program, allowing him to finish before bed. He is anxiously awaiting the next adventure. He did make the mistake of telling his lovely wife that Peri was having lunch at Zov's. Ooo, we haven't been there in a while, she cooed. Thanks Peri, that'll cost you.
"I really enjoyed Freezer Burn. I really felt you did a fine job of developing the characters. I liked the character Benny, a kind of creepy Peter Lorie type as I visualized him. Peri seemed a stretch at first - a 50 something in a new career, but I see a character similar to Ambulance Girl, a book made into a movie. Kathy Bates played a true to life character who becomes an EMT. Skip gets a little too close, but manages to keep his distance and maintain most of his professional distance, sometimes. It was fun to read and identify Placentia places and streets."

-Warren and Claudine Emens

"I took Freezer Burn over to my Dad last Saturday at 8:30am since he's a faster reader than I am and has no problem foregoing laundry and dishes to sit and read -- I think I need to be more like him. Anyway, he called me at 1:30pm on Saturday and said he finished your book and really liked it. He wants to know when your next book is coming out!"

-Colleen Neidiger

Okay, peeps, I got so much stuff to do and so little energy to do it, I'm off to find my motivation. Is there such a thing as a vacation hangover?