Wake-up calls - two of them.... I'm so nervous about oversleeping that I asked for one at 7am and another at 7:15am. Then I set the alarm clock. I managed to be ready when Rhalee knocked on my door. We went downstairs and waited for Karen, who was in charge of getting us to things on time. It's not like New York City where you walk out, raise your arm and hail a cab. If we tried that here, we would have sore arms. So Karen arrived and drove us to Tarzana (me Paula...you Tarzana). The drive took us about half an hour. I kept asking if we were there yet. Karen and Rhalee ignored me. Pages.... What a great name for the bookstore! I signed some books for people who couldn't be there and then the classes arrived - all second graders from Welby Way Elementary and Woodland Hills Elementary. They were so nice!!!! I talked, they asked questions, and then I signed books. They were very impressed that I can write backwards just as easily as I can write forwards. Then we went to Ventura, which is about an hour away from Tarzana. I sat in the backseat and kept asking when were we going to get there. We finally did get there and again, it was so much fun. There were a lot of wonderful people there. There were members of the public and a troop of girl scouts (troop 877). I told them how I was once a girl scout, only my father kept calling me a girl sprout and then I kept calling them girl sprouts. I was a little disappointed that they weren't selling cookies (yum - thin mints). Then we came back to the hotel and wrote out this message. I was going to write more, but Rhalee said, "Enough all ready. They are not interested in what you ordered for dinner." (soup, salad, baked potato.... Hah! I told you....)


April 3, 2001

This has been a very long day. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.... I am so tired...but Rhalee says that it's important to tell you what we did today.

We went to La Verne to visit Mrs. Nelson's Toy and Bookshop. I was very excited.... Books...toys.... It's a good life. I talked with a great group of kids. They were in a good mood. They love books. They love field trips. I talked. They questioned. Why is it so important for people to know how old I am?...and then to gasp when I tell them? Actually, the grownups don't do that...just some of the kids.

Next came the San Marino Toy and Book Shoppe. More books...more toys...more wonderful people to talk with.... I am beginning to see a pattern to this tour...and I like it. Then we had to catch a plane...well, not actually "catch" it. Do you know the way to San Jose????? Well, our pilot did and now we are here. It's almost 11. Enough for now. We have to be ready at 6:50 am to go to a t.v. station for an interview. I need to look awake for it...so bye for now.


Wednesday, April 4, 2001

Yikes. Gadzooks. 5 am and I had to wake up to get ready for a t.v. interview! Once ready, I was driven to the station, putting on make-up in the car. (It is a major talent of mine to put on eye liner sitting in the back seat of a moving vehicle.) We arrived at Channel 11 in San Jose, California. We were ushered in to the station and asked to wait in the snack room...diet soda and pretzels were our early morning breakfast. Tsk, tsk...but the machines did not dispense cereal or waffles so I had to make do. The hosts of "Today About the Bay" are Brent and Laura and I really liked them. When I got into the actual studio, a microphone was pinned on me but I had to be very quiet while the weatherman was speaking. It's not easy for me to be quiet but I had snow choice...get it? The weatherman was talking.... Then, Brent came over and talked to me for a few minutes and then the interview began. We talked about the new "A is for Amber" books and about tv and then Brent told everyone about my boots, which are covered with purple sequins. I tried to show them to the camera but ended up showing the bottoms of the boots.... It was truly an interview with sole. I really liked talking with Brent. We went to two incredible book stores - Hicklebee's, in San Jose and Keplers in Menlo Park (California.... Wonderful people showed up at both stores. In Keplers, the people who work there were wearing Amber Brown scrunchies - even one of the guys. It's 11pm...time to get some sleep.


Thursday, April 05, 2001

Today we went to two bookstores. They were Rakestraw Books in Danville and The Storyteller in Lafayette(both in California). They were both terrific...wonderful booksellers, great audiences...so what's the problem??????????????? Let me tell you.... I don't want to whine (although we are in wine country) but here I am in the wonderful San Francisco area and I'm not getting a chance to sightsee. "Oh, Paula" you say, "At least you can see things in the car when you are driving from place to place." "Ha!" I say. An author has to sleep sometime. Seriously, I am having a great time but it would be fun to see more of the city. Oh well, I can always do that on my own (singing "I left my heart in San Francisco"). We've just gotten off a plane, from San Francisco to Seattle. It's 11 pm and I'm ready to go to sleep so that I am ready for new adventures tomorrow.


Friday, April 06, 2001

Washington State - Seattle. I wake up and look at the letter from the hotel that is sitting on my desk. It starts out with "Dear Guest" - no problem there. Then it tells me that the room that I am in "sustained some minor earthquake damage" and that as of now, they have been unable to repair it. That really made me feel safe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then it said that the hotel has gone through three (3) major earthquakes with only a little damage. So then I felt safe about the hotel, but nervous about the possibility of earthquakes. No worry…it was an earthquake free day (as most of the days here are.) It was also a day of two more terrific bookstores. Third Place, in Lake Forest Park is a unique place. It's not easy to explain, but imagine a store that is attempting to be the hub of a community. Anyway, over two hundred second graders, their teachers, some of their parents and members of the general community came to hear me speak. Briar Crest School made a huge banner for me. It is wonderful!! A scout troop made a sign - also terrific. Great questions were asked. The second event at All for Kids in Seattle was also terrific…and there was a special visit from "Powerman", a five year old who had dressed up for his kindergarten circus day. He was still in costume – red headband, red cape, and tights and a sweatshirt. POWERMAN was written across his forehead. I fell in love. After the speech and the signing of books, I was interviewed by a nine year old, Natasha. It was for Radio Disney, and Natasha did a great job! Then our work day ended.


Saturday, April 7, 2001

What a way to start the day! A wake up call at 4:45 am…and then off to the airport at 5:30. Check the luggage…get on the plane for the 7:10 flight. We arrive in Newark at 3:30, wait for the luggage to get off the carousel and then get in a cab to go home.... HOME - that's right. We will have a day and a half off before the second part of the tour begins. Rhalee, who has been the publicity person on the tour, is glad that she can go back to her apartment. She wants to water her plants for the first time in a week and a half. Before the trip, she got self-watering pots, which she hopes worked….On Monday, we will give you a plant update. When I get back to my apartment, I click my heels and say, "There's no place like home."


Sunday, April 8, 2001

What a day!!!! Go through and answer almost two weeks of mail. Do the laundry. Get my hair "naturally" red. See friends for dinner (try to stay awake). Repack my bags for the next part of the trip. Get some sleep so that I am alert...the tour starts again tomorrow.


It's 3am on Tuesday morning, April 10th.

I seem to be having trouble adjusting to the time change from the west coast. It's not so bad if I think of it as 12am, California and Seattle time...but I'm back in NYC and I am being picked up at 8:30 this morning, Eastern time. Why am I not in bed,asleep, you ask? I don't have a good answer. Yesterday, Monday the 10th, I was at Books, Bytes and Beyond in Glen Rock, New Jersey. It didn't start until 4pm, but I spent the day trying to get organized. (Even when I am not on a book tour, I am not very organized!!!!) There was a very nice group of people at the Bookstore (including some people who I went to college with...a long long time ago). I got a good "item" to put in a book. I spoke to a principal who counts off the time gone each year by the number of scheduled fire drills the school has had..."only ten more to go..." When I was a teacher, I counted by days - "Only 179 more to go...." Rhalee, as usual, was there...and Susan Kochan, a wonderful editor, was also there. After the event, we headed back to N.Y. and went out to dinner at a Japanese restaurant. Yum! Then I went back to my apartment and repacked my bags. I can't figure it out...is it going to be warm, cold, rainy, or what??? So I packed for all of those possibilities. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarg. Then I couldn't sleep, so I sharpened all of my makeup pencils (I know...weirdness!). And then I remembered - I hadn't written my road report. Double Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarg. So here it is...and I'm done.... It's now 3:30am, and, as previously stated, I have to be ready to go out to NJ at 8:30 in the morning. That's 5:30 in the morning west coast time. Jet lag - thy name is Paula. In fact, I think I'm going to change my name to Paula Ann Jetlag Danziger. Maybe not...that would be a very long autograph. Bye for now.


Tuesday, April 10, 2001

8:30am Pickup.... I'm ready...my makeup pencils are sharpened and so, I hope, is my brain. We're off to Baker and Taylor. With a name like that, some people may think that they sell yummy pies, cakes, etc...and that they mend clothes (some people who are not good spellers may think that!!!). But...NO...they are book suppliers to libraries and book stores. I had the chance to speak with lots of terrific people there, to autograph books and to go to lunch. Then we had some time off...and I went to sleep in the car (no, I was not driving). Nap time...what a great concept!!!!!! Then, we met up with some friends for a snack. Sandra Steen and Susan Steen are two of my close friends...and they are writers (their book is CAR WASH, a picture book). We all laughed a lot! Then it was time for a booksigning at Borders Books and Music, in Bridgewater, N.J. So many people...so many autographs...and more friends showed up.... One actually went to high school with me(no, it was not George Washington!). What a great time! Then it was back into the car and off to Allentown, Pennsylvania. Now we are in the hotel. We are close to the Crayola factory and the Peeps factory…two more "historical" places that we don't have time to visit...boo hoo. Right now, though, I can visit my bed. Yawn...yawn...night...night...snore...snore.... Soon there will be a wakeup call. Aaaaarg...aaaaaaarg.


Wednesday, April 11, 2001

Another day. Another airport. For once, this is not being written late at night. We're sitting in the waiting area of the Philadelphia Airport, waiting for the plane to Nashville, Tennessee. It's been another great day - rainy, but great. This morning we got to Moravian Book Shop in Bethleham, Pa. at 9:30. I immediately got to work signing a huge amount of presold books. Yikes. Here's my problem. This place is wonderful, filled not only with books but with so many other great items. I wanted to shop. I needed to shop. Rhalee would not let me shop. Jewelry. Cards. Candy. Gifts...all around and I couldn't even look. I know that what I was doing was more important so I got to work. Just as I finished signing those books, one hundred and fifty students from Moravian Academy showed up. It was time to speak, to answer questions and to sign books. I had to leave this store (which is the oldest book store in the whole entire world) without getting even one present for anyone on my holiday list (I shop all year round for that!). Then we drove to Moorestown, N.J. to sign books for Koen Book Distributers - more really nice people. And now we are at the airport, as I said before. There are no books to sign unless I go into the airport bookstore and start signing...Jane Austin, William Shakespeare, Danielle Steele, Dr. Seuss.... I could start practicing their signatures (just kidding). One of these days, I'll tell you about all of the transportation we have been taking. Right now, though we are getting ready to board...gotta go.


Thursday, April 12, 2001

This will be a short message because we are short on sleep. We are also short people; Rhalee is 5"5" tall, and, while I think I am about 6 feet tall, I am really 5'4". We spent the morning at Ingram Book Company (a very, very large book distributor - that means that they distribute a lot of books not just very large books). I met with a lot of people and signed a lot of books. Then we had lunch with people from every department in the company(about 30 people). Then I met with the telephone sales people and signed a lot more books. Then it was time to go to Davis-Kidd, a bookstore. I made a speech, signed more books. I thought everyone there was terrific, but I especially liked a three-year-old whose face was painted like the Easter Bunny. He had glitter on his nose - a Nashville Easter Bunny! Then, it was time to go back to the hotel. And now it is time to go to sleep. I'm not going to think about the fact that tomorrow is Friday the 13th.


Friday the 13th

7:50...my day begins with a radio interview, a call-in to Nashua, New Hampshire. It went well...nothing unlucky about this...unless you count my dropping the phone on my foot. Next a breakfast interview with a reporter from "BookPage". Nothing unlucky about this.... Frosted Flakes spilled all over my new outfit...but there was no milk in the bowl. Ha to Friday the 13th! Then, we flew to Boston (actually, the plane did the flying - we just sat there). We arrived safely and so did our luggage. Lucky, lucky!!! Then, we were driven to Nashua...and now it's time to relax. Tomorrow is the last day of the tour and I'm looking forward to the final two events...and to it not being Friday the 13th. I hope that you had a good day.