A note about author wranglers:
Did you know there was such a job? The proper title is “media escort”. Karen, who is helping me in LA, calls herself an “author schlepper”. Their job is to pick up the befuddled, confused author at the airport and drive them all over the city, get them to events on time, keep them fed, hydrated and awake, and cope with the weirdnesses that crop up in this line of work. I bet all author schleppers could write their own books. I’ve had fantastic schleppers on the West Coast – Tina Mandt, Sharon Chabon, Larry Lewis and Karen Hebert. I just wish they would come home with me and schlep me to the dry cleaners, the grocery store and Wawa. Maybe if I had a full-time schlepper, I’d get my library books returned before they are overdue.
To anyone taking the new SATs today – I’m sorry. I hope it wasn’t too bad. I once heard that the worst predictor of a kid’s chances at college success is the SAT. If you don’t do as well as you’d like, remember that.
Enjoyed Friday night gridlock driving through Los Angeles last night, but Karen is such a pro, she got me to Vroman’s on time. Lots of teachers turned out and a few kids, and Karen Madden, author of the new book Gentle’s Holler. (Hello Lucy and Nora!)
I can’t tell what’s smog and what’s fog here. All I know is that it’s hard to see anything. This is what it looks like to the left out my window.
This is what it looks like out the right. The ocean is out there someplace.
Back to the airport in a little while, then I catch a plane for Detroit. Back to cold. Back to snow. Back to gloom.
Thank goodness. All this sunshine messes with my head.