It was touch-and-go as to whether we would make it when I
caught bronchitis and Cora dealt with several deaths in the family. However, we
both realized what we needed was a road trip. We are pros at traveling
together: she drives and I talk non-stop.
After much searching on the Internet, Cora found the Utah
Hotel for only $200 a night—a bargain since it was right downtown and near the
Moscone Convention Center. It was very Victorian and we had to “share” a
bathroom and shower with everyone on our floor. Quaint, but honestly, I never
saw another person. I did expect to run into a ghost or two on the narrow
corridors, but no such luck.
I loved the venue of the convention. It was spread across
two huge buildings, but crossing the street didn't involve traffic. Everything
was laid out with numbers on each aisle and booth numbers on the floor. I
snagged a coupon book and filled out info for all sorts of drawings. I learned
to ask at the booths “Are you giving away any free books?” I got 6 for my 9 yr
old godson and 9 for myself.
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| Gloria Steinem |
The highlight of the day was attending Gloria Steinem's
talk. She was the feminist influence in our younger years and has remained an
inspiration to this very day. She announced that she's finally gotten around to
writing her memoirs and it will be on sale in late October.
We did our stint at the booth. While we couldn't sell our
books, we had a ball giving away copies to librarians who stopped by. They are
the ones who might recommend our mysteries to their library book buyers. I enjoyed the convention so much
that I'm considering volunteering for the Chicago convention in 2017.
The only snag was that San Francisco picked THAT weekend to
have their Gay Pride parade. Only one day after the Supreme Court ruling, the
Bay Area population was in the mood to party. Apparently there are no indecent
exposure laws in the city; I saw things I will never erase from my brain. We
got caught in traffic and it took two hours to go 5 miles, mostly in circles.
History was made on many levels that weekend, and we were a part of it.
