Today’s my last day in San Francisco. In a few hours the shuttle will come retrieve me, and then it’s back to Greensburg.

I’ve had such a great time here! First off, it’s always such a delight to see my friend Jana. We’ve been friends ever since we were wee girls, so it’s so satisfying to see her life here develop. She just bought a beautiful place with her brother, and they’ve got themselves a lovely life on the Bay.

The day I arrived, I puttered around the Marina area till Jana got home, and then we were off to the San Francisco Whiskyfest. We tasted tons of great stuff, although I don’t think Jana is a convert. After Whiskyfest, Jana took me to the most amazing Italian restaurant, the name of which I’m entirely incapable of remembering as it’s just a number. But it was delicious: really fresh ingredients served beautifully and simply.

The next day, we went to Jana’s friends to watch the Blue Angels. Good news? It was a gorgeous day and we had a blast. Bad news? I got ridiculously sunburned on my neck. Like stupidly sunburned. So when I did LitCrawl that night, I seriously nearly fainted. I think to the audience I just appeared a bit breathless, but inside I was like, “Dude, I’m totally going to faint. How rockstar is that?”

But I didn’t faint, and LitCrawl was very fun. The people at Borderlands were really kind and very good hosts, and it was great meeting the other authors. I also got to spend time with Gail Carriger, and she was nice enough to invite Jana and me out with her friends for dinner. We had Senegalese food, and it was delicious.

The day after that, we went to meet Alice Gray, a writer friend of mine, for brunch. Again, it was super fun and the food was delish. That night, Jana and I rallied for another big meal, this time at the House of Prime Rib with Sophie Littlefield, Juliet Blackwell, and Rachael Herron. All I can say is that we needed a cordoned off area around us, or some sort of zoning, as the smutty talk was flying thick and fast. Jana and I laughed so hard our ribs hurt the next day, and I know the ladies adored Jana as much as I do. The food was also amazing, and I highly recommend that place. Not least because the zeppelins of meat are REAL, people:

Yesterday was another fun day. Alice’s hubs works in the wine industry, and invited us out to a vineyard in Napa. Who can resist an invite like that? After a long day in the sun, wine tasting, we spent our evening watching movies and relaxing.

So it’s been a great vacation. I feel recharged and ready to tackle the second half of our semester, and to finish writing Eye of the Tempest. It’s nearly there!

In other fun news, the audiobook for Tempest Rising has it’s sample up! I think it sounds great, and I’m very pleased with the actress choice. There are a few f-bombs littering this piece, so careful listening:

Tempest Rising Sample

So yay! Thanks to everyone in SF for showing me a good time, especially Jana. She’s the best friend a gal could have.

I’ll see you back here in a few days. But until then, do something fun to celebrate October.