I came to Los Angeles over fifteen years ago, when I was 29. I’d returned home from Clarion, gotten a divorce, and fled west with nothing but my car, my cat, and a desire for change. I certainly found it. Life in Los Angeles was the opposite of my life in Maryland, where I’d felt …
Catch me at the Middle Grade Book Party panel from 12-12:45pm on October 12th, along with Kristen Kittscher, Barbara Brauner, James Iver Mattson, Ned Vizzini, and moderator Cecil Castellucci. Stay for pizza and cupcakes!
West Hollywood Book Fair celebrates its 12th edition on Sunday, September 29th. This year’s festival will feature literature, art, music, performance and community in an eclectic presentation. A total of twelve outdoor stages and indoor venues, throughout West Hollywood Park and West Hollywood Library, will host literary and arts programming that will appeal to a …
This upcoming weekend, March 30-31, I’ll be at WonderCon in Anaheim. Most of the time I’ll be in total fan-mode: going to panels, spending too much money in the dealers room, and trying to catch glimpses of my favorite authors and TV stars. Here’s the author stuff: SIGNING Sunday, March 31st, 1:30-2:00pm Mysterious Galaxy, …
Last summer I planted my very first herb garden (see “Herb Adventure” for all the exciting details). I absolutely loved growing my own herbs. I loved the way they looked on the porch — easily visible from the main room where I spend all my time — and I found myself cooking more often because …
This weekend I’m headed to my very first ALA (American Library Association) annual summer conference. ALA Anaheim will be packed with publishers, librarians, book bloggers, readers, authors, and books Books BOOKS! I’ll be wandering around until 4pm on Saturday, and on Sunday I’ll be signing Above World. Click the graphic to see my face on …
Had a great visit with Samantha Ling and her hubby Chris a few weeks ago. I think the Kung Fu Panda’s expression says it all:
I miss blogging, and in an effort to return to more regular posts, I’m starting a new thing: “Stuff I Love” posts. How does this differ from most of my other posts? Um… it doesn’t. But this is my excuse to talk about the many tiny things I discover, uncover, or enjoy in my everyday …
I read a great interview with Josh Radnor while sitting in the doctor’s office the other day. I wasn’t so much interested in Radnor (star of How I Met Your Mother), as I was in what he had to say about Los Angeles. Turns out, he loves it for a lot of the same reasons …
A new establishment just opened a mere block from my house: Diana Sproveri: designer bake shop. This spells my doom. (My tasty, tasty doom.) On Thursdays from 5-9pm, the bake shop has Cupcake Happy Hour. (I know, right?) As a reward for making a deadline last week, I walked over to check the place out. …
My fifth season as a hockey fan has begun! Chris and I headed down to Staples Center to watch the Kings beat the NJ Devils on October 30th. The energy was fantastic — lots of fans and crew members were wearing Halloween costumes, our seats were great, and we didn’t have any obnoxious people sitting …
Sunday we headed down to the Nisei Week Japanese Festival in Little Tokyo. Although there were many cultural displays (bonsai, samurai armor, calligraphy), I was mostly there to hang with my friends, enjoy the Taiko gathering, and eat as much as possible. This dude sat in the middle of the street, guarding the closing ceremonies …
I just read a fabulous graphic novel called Re-Gifters written by Mike Carey and illustrated by Sonny Liew and Marc Hempel. The book was published as part of DC Comics’ Minx line — “the first graphic novel imprint designed exclusively for teenage girls.” Dixie is a Korean American high school student living in LA. She’s …
Oh, how I have been craving the company of writers! On the Interwebs, I am constantly surrounded by amazing and talented writers. But sometimes, I want to leave my laptop at home and drink coffee and talk novel structure. I want to pay too much for a scone and discuss the proper use of passive …
Every Lunar New Year, I head to LA’s Chinatown to enjoy the Golden Dragon Parade. The red lanterns, the music, the people crammed in every store and eatery — it’s a wonderful expression of LA’s energy and multiculturism. From 2010 Photobook
Trucks are frequently parked on my street. I think people use them as cheap storage solutions, because they’re often filled with furniture and clothes and only get moved one day a week for street cleaning. Anything left on the street that long is bound to get tagged, and after a few days, most of these …
I was driving home at 11pm, exhausted and feeling a wee bit self-pitying after a long day, when I passed a series of white trucks. White trucks in LA mean a location shoot. The back of the last truck was open and inside, a woman was rifling frantically through rows and rows of costumes. Now …
Today’s mystery Hollywood sign read “ACNE.” Let’s just hope they’re casting a commercial and not in production on a blockbuster trilogy… Nope, not even remotely tempted to follow.
There are signs taped and stapled all over Los Angeles, usually handwritten, and always bearing a codeword like “Cowboy” or “Underwater” or “Heaven” and pointing down a certain road. It’s my understanding that these signs point to casting calls or shoots. Whenever I see one, I spend the rest of the drive making up a …
Class was good tonight; lots of laughter, a good workout, the genuine happiness of people being together, doing something they love. Maybe that’s what primed me for the magic of the drive home. It’s one of those clean, clear nights in Los Angeles. The air is perfect — its temperature, its clarity, even its smell. …
I’ve been following the development of the new Women’s Pro Soccer league for so long, I completely forgot to post about it! Since yesterday was the inaugural league game, let me remedy that oversight right now. There are 7 teams in the new WPS league: FC Gold Pride (SF Bay area) Boston Breakers Chicago Red …
This season I became a REAL hockey fan: I bought a hockey jersey! Here I am at a game last week, sporting my FROLOV jersey and official hat at Staples Center in Los Angeles. From 2008 Photobook Do people buy jerseys/uniforms for other sports, or is hockey an anomaly? I was shocked at the first …
I’m at one of my favorite breakfast joints, eating one of my favorite meals: waffles Benedict! (Despite the pic, More Than Waffles does have more than waffles.)
Just over two years ago, I took a week off work so I could pack and move into my condo. I had closed on the condo a month earlier, but it needed some work, and I am a big believer in symbolism and milestones and new beginnings. And so I planned moving day for my …