Hello, my pretties,
I just returned from my San Francisco trip…. and it was a trip. I arrived in time to experience the city’s heavy rain. The rain didn’t deter my search for the Red Oak Tavern location, a key setting in the second Forensic Astrology Files book. I found a funny red brick building on Broadway at the corner of Montgomery Street. Several apartments occupy the upper floors; below, the Crowbar, a defunct bar, remains closed.
The building lies in the shadow of the Transamerica building in a “transitional” neighborhood. It’s not the sleek financial district and isn’t quite North Beach. It has a multi-level parking lot in the back … the perfect place to dump a body…. more on that later.
Resarch, Research Research
In “The Eclipse Killer,” I mentioned the Muldooneys own and operate the Red Oak Tavern. I also needed a location for the house where Sean and his wife, Alana, live. I walked up Montgomery Street to see what I could find. I discovered several beautiful homes built on the cliff with amazing views of San Francisco Bay, Treasure Island, and the Bay Bridge—one modern building set off from the others behind an intimidating gate, which got me thinking about how our crime boss would choose to live there as it was so close to work. I continued my walk. The streets blended in a strange pattern, no longer following a strict grid, and I stumbled across the Greenwich staircase and a path along several houses’ backs. I kept going and found myself at the top of Telegraph Hill at Coit Tower, featured on the book cover of “The Eclipse Killer.”
After a few more rainy day adventures, I prepared for the book signing at the Book Passage store inside the Ferry Building. Truth be told, I love talking about writing, the creative process, research, and great books, but talking about myself gives me the hee-bee-jee-bees. My biggest fear was that no one would show up. Part of my marketing plan was adding flyers to the San Francisco Writer’s Conference attendees packets, hoping that since my event was to take place on the evening of the first day of the conference, I’d get a few interested writers. Then mayhem.
Then The Flood
The conference takes place at the Hyatt Regency on the Embarcadero. It’s an architectural marvel. The lobby atrium is the largest in the world and features a spectacular fountain designed by John Portman, a notable futurist. Upon leaving a conference session, I got on the elevator and noticed water covering
the entire lobby floor. The fountain had sprung a leak. The water caused a problem with the electronics, which led to the staff scrambling and tossing towels and tablecloths on the floor to mop up the water. Later in the afternoon, minutes before leaving for the bookstore, I heard the announcement: the hotel was turning off the power to reboot the system. They expected power to be out for 30 minutes to an hour. Luckily, I had everything set up at the store and missed the outage. More on that later.
Another factor, the rain, it was coming down hard, which made me guess that attendance would be low. So, I was pleased to see seven dear friends from the Bay Area, but no one from the conference was there. I couldn’t blame them; they had no power! But it became a night filled with fun and love as several friends made the trek. We talked about astrology being a way for ancient people to explain the world around them. I talked about how modern astrology can be used to investigate crime and what inspired me to write “The Eclipse Killer.”
After the event, I returned to the Hyatt only to find it dark – the electricity was still out. The elevators had emergency power, so I didn’t have to walk up 15 floors to my room. I got inside, and nothing. No lights, no heat, nothing. I used the flashlight on my phone to illuminate the bathroom enough to take a nice hot shower, then hunkered down to read my Kindle by flashlight and went to bed early.
The following day, there was still no electricity. I felt so bad for the conference organizers. How were they going to handle this? There was power in the breakout rooms and backup power in the main ballroom. However, no hot water was in the hotel rooms, so attendees had to take cold showers. It’s a good thing writers are a resilient bunch. By Noon, my room had power, and I could charge all of my electronica. Lesson: Always have a power brick and make sure it’s charged.
Despite all the obstacles, this journey to a city I love was incredible. Let’s pray for better weather for the next book signing. That’s it for now. See you on the socials. Be well.