Under the red sun of Bakersfield

Yesterday's book signing in my hometown of Bakersfield was quite an experience! I had so much fun at Russo's Books that I really look forward to doing another signing there again. Between family & friends & friendly new faces, the hours went by far too fast. Even though I was scheduled at Russo's between 1 and 3pm, I ended up staying until 4pm because I was having so much fun visiting.

The highlight of the day was definitely seeing my lovely sister-in-law Monique Rogers (of A.R.R.C. Technology) and my 9 year-old nephew and baby niece, Riley & Samantha. I hadn't seen them in over a year-- so endless hugs were definitely in order! Little Samantha grabbed the pens with such ease that I think she was definitely ready to take over the signing for me. Unfortunately my brother Alex couldn't make it to the signing since he was out ocean-fishing. I guess Dear Isabelle can't compete with Marlin and Dorado!

Even though I was born and raised in Bakersfield, during my weekend visit I saw something there that I had never before seen in my entire life.

A red sun.

It hung low in the sky and shone dimly through a hazy, browish-gray sky. There was no blue sky, no white clouds. Just a sand-colored sky under a dim, red sun that reminded me more of a harvest moon than anything else. I knew something was definitely strange when I learned that the temperature was only 89 degrees, when Bakersfield's Augusts normally hover around a scorching 112 degrees.

The cause for such an eerie sky was the Zaca Fire, which was a wildfire that had been burning near Santa Barbara since early July. Although Santa Barbara is a couple hours away from Bakersfield, the fire had fiercely consumed over 90,000 acres--- all while inching closer and closer to Bakersfield. The news reported that the fire is not expected to be put out until the first or second week of September!

I couldn't believe it. Billows of smoke were literally pouring into Kern County. The air was thick and we felt our throats burn a bit at first until we adjusted. Perhaps the strangest sight of all was the endless flurry of white and gray ashes that fell from the sky-- just as steadily as a snowfall. In fact, every single car in Bakersfield was covered in a peculiar layer of gray ash and pedestrians walked around with the tiny ash flurries falling in their hair and eyes.

By sunset, the strange smoke-filled sky had created such a surreal effect that the horizon looked completely flipped upside-down, with a thin line of blue closer to the earth, that gradually grew upwards into warm, intense shades of yellow, orange and red and then finally browns and grays.
All in all, it was definitely a dramatic weekend for a mystery book signing!

Upcoming Signing

This Sunday, August 19th, I will be returning to my hometown of Bakersfield, California for a book signing for Dear Isabelle. I'm very excited to see family and old friends again, especially when I realize I haven't been back in over a year! Bakersfield is one of those booming towns that is constantly growing. Every time I go back, I'm always surprised at how much it's grown since I had moved away back in 1997 when I was 17. But some things, like family and friends, always stay the same and for that I am very grateful!


* Book Signing: August 19th, 1-3 p.m. at Russo's Marketplace Books, 9000 Ming Avenue, #I-4 Bakersfield.

"No, Ms. Swan, the microphone is not a PA system, don't worry."

On Saturday afternoon, I gave my first reading of Dear Isabelle at the San Francisco Public Library bookstore.

It's a very difficult thing to decide which part of the book to choose for a reading. Do I choose the beginning, the middle? Certainly not the end! And how many pages should I even read? My dear friends Ann & Laurie gave me the advice that I should pretend the book is a movie and then imagine which part would make for an interesting movie trailer! "Think about the parts of your book that has the least dialogue and the most action." It was very helpful advice and so I ended up choosing the scene surrounding the church fire (end of chapter 11 and beginning of chapter 12). It worked beautifully! There was plenty of dramatic build-up and enough spooky images to keep the audience from falling asleep!

Once my reading was over however, I got terribly nervous all over again. Thankfully, the delightful staff at the SF library bookstore were so kind that I was able to make it through the Q&A session. Questions are always interesting for an author because you never quite know what to expect, but they are tremendously easier than just babbling on all by yourself about the book!

Many thanks to the SF library bookstore staff and especially to Rand for giving me the opportunity to share Dear Isabelle.