Me and Justin Bieber

I am still making the rounds of bookstores - this time in the L.A. area. With the holiday shopping gearing up, though, I think bookstore personnel are going to be too busy helping customers to want to deal with a wandering author. So, other than a booksigning at the Barnes & Noble at the Westside Pavilion shopping center on December 12, I will probably only go in bookstores to buy books.

That’s why we went to the Barnes & Noble at the Grove Wednesday night. The Grove is the current hot spot in L.A.. It’s an outdoor shopping area built to appear to be a town square in a perfect little place somewhere. There is a mini park and a pond with dancing waters and even a trolley - though it just goes in a circle. The Grove next to CBS studios and attracts both tourist and celebrity shoppers. The show Extra tapes there and a scene in You Better Knot Die takes place there. The Barnes & Noble is three stories tall and hosts celebrity authors. The latest teen pop sensation Justin Bieber signed his book there a couple of weeks ago and there were screaming girls and their moms lined up around the block. I don’t know what his book was - a memoir perhaps? How much can there be to memoir about at 16? But that’s another story.

Even though it was late, 8:30, on the night before Thanksgiving, the store was very busy. I found the New in Fiction table in the primo spot just inside the door on the first floor. I scanned the array of books looking for mine. It wasn’t there. I know my book is supposed to be on the New in Fiction table, but sometimes it ends up on the New in Mystery shelf. I rode the escalator to the third floor where the mystery section is and went to the information desk and introduced myself to the manager and offered to sign my books. He checked his computer which apparently said the books were supposed to be on the New in Fiction table. He went all the way down to the first floor and checked the table. No You Better Knot Dies. He came back up and checked the New in Mystery section. Again, No You Better Knot Dies. He got help from another manager and they checked around some more and came up empty handed. They apologized profusely and I left them with a stack of post cards with the book cover.

I was ready to shrug it off as a whatever sort of circumstance and went down the escalator to the first floor. Just as I was about to leave the store, I noticed a table on the other side of the front door from the New in Fiction table. It had a sign saying Merry Christmas. Even though the managers had already checked it, and in all the bookstores I’ve gone to, my book has never been on the holiday table, I looked anyway. And there it was.

I went back up to the third floor and found the manager who was now becoming my friend and told him of my find. I returned to the first floor with a two manager entourage and showed them the book. They were so happy I found it and so apologetic that they’d missed it, they offered to put them on the Autographed Book ladder. Guess who else’s book is there? I hope some of Justin’s fans like crochet.

Have you ever had something that seems like a problem turn into a positive?

And the winner of the drawing for a copy of You Better Knot Die is Janet. If you send your snail mail address to Hechtmanbooks@aol.com, I will send the book off to you.

Pet Gifts

Instead of blogging about handmade gifts last week, which was our primary topic, I sort of addressed this week’s topic: what other gifts to give.

But I didn’t delve much into what to get for our pets.

I’ve been looking for a new “blue ball” for Mystie. She knows that term. Her favorite game is to get us to throw or kick small rubber balls, ones that squeak when she squishes them in her mouth. She has three, but her favorite is “blue ball” --and its rubber is starting to crack. It’s in the pattern of a soccer ball, and I can find them in white but haven’t found another blue one to replace the original. They used to say dogs are color blind, but the last I heard was a theory that they had some limited ability to see colors. It probably doesn’t matter. Whatever color it turns out to be, she’ll know it’s not the same treasured “blue ball.”

Lexie’s a little easier to buy for. When she plays, it’s with nylon bones, so I’ll get her some new ones to chew on and tease Mystie with.

We haven’t started dressing our dogs in clothes or costumes, but there are a lot of cute outfits out there, especially this time of year. I saw a lot of dressed-up pups yesterday when we went to The Grove shopping center in L.A., right next to the Farmers Market. I was surprised to see the number of dogs there, in fact, until I stopped to pet a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (I can’t resist hugging Cavaliers) and the owner told me that it was the last day to have your dog’s picture taken with Santa Claus! The line to see Santa was long--filled with both kids and dogs. We missed out, but we’ll get our photos of the dogs with family.

Do you get gifts for your pets over the holidays? What kinds?

My Fourth of July Staycation

The end of the holiday weekend. I guess you could say I did a staycation. That word is going to wear thin soon. I keep hearing it on the news before they do a segment on people staying in town. Actually staying in L.A. isn’t without things to do.

When I was growing up we lived in a somewhat run down building. It had been built as a hotel for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. It only occurred to me later that was why all the rooms were the same size except our living room which was two rooms with a pocket door in between and must have been a suite.

Every summer I would fix up the back porch. Well, back porch was a generous term. It was more like a landing, so small there wasn’t even room for a chair. And so dark that the mother in laws tongue plant I put out there barely survived. Still, I would put my plant out and sweep the winter dirt away and sit on the steps and dream that someday I might have someplace a little bigger.

Now, I have a real backyard and even though it is many years later, every time I look at it, I think how lucky I am. There are orange trees and redwood trees and flowers and sun light and room for lots of chairs. So, the idea of staying home this weekend and spending it in my own backyard was nice.

It wasn’t totally a weekend off. I went into the city and signed HOOKED ON MURDER at a Barnes & Noble in a shopping area called The Grove. It looks like an idealized downtown of a small town. Last summer when I was in Iowa City, I realized it looked like The Grove, but it was real. The Grove has become the celebrity shopping area of choice.

I am still finishing creating the pattern for the filet crochet bookmark that will be in DEATH AND DOILIES along with a pattern for making a cuddle blanket. And there is the recipe. Putting the polish on the recipe is my family’s favorite part of my writing. They get to be the tasters. This time the recipe is for California Noodle Pudding, which I plan to make today. Even the cats and the dog are excited as they get to be tasters, too.

Instead of a barbecue, we went to a restaurant on the beach for dinner Saturday night. The drive to Malibu was a little eerie as there was a wildfire along the road the day before. We passed lots of blackened grass, but the fire was completely out. And all the smoke gone, which was a relief as it was blowing our way last night.

The beach is always refreshing and we had a view of the water from our table. Sometimes when we eat at this particular restaurant, dolphins swim by. None this time, but it was late. We got there just as the water and sky were melting together. The tide was coming in and a big waves crashed against the rocks right outside the window sending up a lot of something heavier than spray. Just a subtle reminder that in the past storms have sent the waves crashing through the restaurant.

I liked my Staycation. Did anyone else have one too?