They were filming a new TRANSFORMERS movie and MATRIX 4 in the financial district when I arrived in San Francisco!

Check this out: abc7news.com

(I missed all the action, but I did walk past the cast’s portapotties.) 😉

Last week’s conference in San Francisco was my fourth in five years, but my first time staying at the Hilton Chinatown. The hotel was a delight, starting with the view from my room.

An UnCon is unique because the attendees are Indie (self-published) and/or Hybrid (self-pub that work with small or traditional press as well) authors of varying backgrounds and genres. We get together for three days to workshop/share what works, what crashed and burned, and what we all can do to improve our craft and our sales.

This year, we had a wonderful video chat with BookBub rep Carlyn Robertson. I learned so much. Did you know there are currently 20 million readers worldwide on Bookbub’s newsletter list? Wow. Are you signed up? Be my guest.

When I wasn’t taking notes, I was out exploring the neighborhood…because I promised. The collage below is from walking around ONE block across the street from the hotel. Seriously.

(From top left: location of the FIRST Public School in California, street art abounds, the Empress of China’s unusual architecture made me smile every time I spotted it from the window by my floor’s elevator, Buddha’s Universal Church is the only sign on a very plain building that indicates its function.)

Every morning I’d walk to a nearby Starbucks for breakfast and the art in this sweet little park called to me—unfortunately it was never open at that time.

Every evening we’d venture out for a different dining experience. Friday night included an Uber to the top of Knob Hill and a chance to see Grace Cathedral at night.

Sunday morning, I picked up coffee and a breakfast sandwich then walked to the Embarcadero to eat. So peaceful—and the art amazed me.

Here’s a quick video:

Last week’s Q&A was: Have you ever felt an earthquake? YES or NO?

Wow! A lot of you have—98%, in fact—from all over the place! I’m super happy to report that I didn’t feel one while I was in in San Francisco. But it’s something I think about every time I zoom under the bay in a skinny tube on BART. 😉

My two randomly selected winners this week are:

Shirley Fender-Clarke – YES
and
Elizabeth – NO

(Shirley and Liz congrats. Please email me your pick of either a $5 Starbucks or a $5 Amazon gift card.)

Q&A

This week’s Q&A: is not happening. ☹️ I’m so sorry, but I will be traveling the whole weekend with sketchy email at best. But I will be taking tons of pic and silly videos to share from OUR FIRST RV TRIP!!!

Happy reading,

Deb

Next week: travel photos, and—because I forgot this week: bloopers from The Cutting Room Floor.