Whew.  Friday night was the Sponsors’ Open Mic at Borderlands Books, which was great.  I met so many local authors whose work I hadn’t encountered before.  I hope this does become a quarterly series, as MC Greg Roensch suggested.  There are so many exciting stories being written in the Bay Area.

I read a taste of Kill By Numbers, which was the bloodiest piece of the evening.  I went on second and it was strange to be so early in the lineup.  I’m used to coming in later.  I was really wound up Friday night, more nervous than usual, but it was great to see Katrina St. James in the audience.  A friendly face is such a gift to a panicking introvert.

Saturday night the family took a little road trip. Emerian Rich invited me to the release party for Search magazine‘s second issue.  The issue ranges from stories about being an artist in the Bay Area to exploring the Winchester Mystery House and Alcatraz at night.  It also features a piece on Ghost Golf, where the party was held.

Let’s just say I love mini golf.  Mini golf combined with gravestones, animated skeletons, spiders, bats, and Bone Daddy’s band?  This may be the best thing ever.  Also, I kicked ass in the mummy shooting range, which is guarded by towering animated statues of Anubis.  This place is worth the drive to Concord to check out.

Emerian was kind enough to invite me to write something for Search‘s spring issue, so I’m going to have to come up with a suitable adventure.

On the way back to the Caldecott Tunnel, we were passed by a delivery truck careening down the highway, trailed by a dozen police cars.  Don’t know what the story with that was, but it made the drive a little more exciting.

Last night was my first encounter with the San Francisco Writers Coffeehouse.  It was great to meet all the writers there.  The conversation ranged over dealing with edits to social media to the best use of Amazon.  I wasn’t ready to be dragged away when it was time to leave.

The blood moon was swathed in fog, but I did catch the second half of the eclipse. It feels like Halloween is starting early this year — and I am 100% okay with that.