H e l l o Travelers’ Tales!

I took the Greydog overnight from Eugene to San Francisco and it was as easy as it gets with both seats to myself and sleeping near the whole way. It’s pretty cool to roll into a town and know exactly which bus to catch to where you’re going. When I got to the Travelers’ Tales office, Susangave me the kind of hug that reminded me just how much I’d been missed. Krista was right there behind her, and Larry said, “Jennifer Leo! Welcome Back!” Well, he also made a comment about how unnatural it was for me to come in so quietly, but I was surprised to hear the “back” half of the welcome, and it reminded me that yes, I was home again.

Not an hour earlier I was writing my short bio to my “Prude In Patpong” story which will be included in Sand In My Bra. It started off, “Jennifer Leo has no permanent address but can be found entering movie theatres in…” Between that and showing up at my old crib, I’m transported back to high school clique days when I was a member of lots but belonging to none. Home. Home home. Eugene, San Francisco, San Diego? None of them. I don’t really have one, I have people and have continued to find my comfort in returning to their hearts.

We spent half the day working through the marketing and PR launch for Sand and we’re really in crunch time. Krista, Larry and I divied up who was going to take care of which calls, pitches, and mailings and the agenda seemed to run on and on. “Hey, this is a lot of work, who did this anyway?” I laughed. What we had crossed off the list was quickly replaced by new to-dos that hadn’t made it on the first draft.

Tomorrow morning I have a breakfast meeting with James O’Reilly, and the Wild Writing Women salon at the Monticello Inn at 5:30. If you read this and are in SF, stop by there and please say hi. According to schedule I’ll be back down every month through June. Good thing I just got offered a used car for $55. It’s used to long trips, so maybe I’ll take it.

But that’s all the fun stuff. What’s on the line up first? Sealing the deal on our Intro, starting to check event dates for the May-June west cost tour, making calls and prepping galleys for endorsements, and beginning the first round of calls for advertising. Here we go!