Noisy at the moment. Leaf blowers to the left of me, leaf blowers to the right of me, some sort of aggravated really squawky bird nested in the bamboo outside the front door. I'm about to put in earplugs. The herons are great. They're one of my favorite things about bike rides along the mighty Los Angeles River.

Hey, you - I am sure you have seen the blue herons that have nested in the tall trees on the west side of the lake. The amusing thing is how large the babies get before they get booted out to go do their own fishing in the LA river. I had for years noticed the heron art on the gates leading down to the river from Fletcher, but until those guys starting nesting in the trees below my house, I hadn't really seen any of them - gorgeous in flight. Anyway, that's how things are going on my side of the pond. Howzabout you, pal?

I can see where this site would easily provide all the distraction any writer could need from actually sitting down to write a book every day. And that, of course, would be very welcome to many of us. So if I don't always get back to everybody individually and in a timely manner, please understand it is simply so that I still have some time to do the work that justifies my existence on sites like this.
That said:
[] Thanks. I had fun talking at the last SinCLA meeting. It was a great audience and SinC has been incredibly supportive of me and are a great bunch to work with. I recommend them.
[] Anyone need any Thai food recommendations in L.A. feel free to ask. (When I lived in Asia I spent a huge amount of time in Thailand and I'm also a decent Thai cook, so I think I have at least a little knowledge of the subject.) The Wat Thai Temple in North Hollywood on weekend afternoons, and Yai Thai on Vermont and Hollywood Blvd. are my two current faves.
[] Thanks about the books. I could have gone on about other favorite books - for instance my favorite L.A. book of all time is Ask the Dust, John Fante - bad movie though, although Salma Hayak was naked in plenty of it and...
[] Thanks Naomi. Santa Monica went well, about 20 people, good questions, nice auditorium, sold a couple of books. I'll have to get the Palms-Rancho Park report from you. Sorry I couldn't make it.
[] At the time I worked at a place called U-Develop Color Photo Lab. One of our regular customers was killed in the explosion when he was up there photographing it. I recall trying to drive on all the silica sand that was in the streets, then giving up and spending the day at a screening at the Portland Art Museum of an unbearably long and dull movie called "Our Hitler." It was shot from a stage production that used all puppets and was somebody's intellectual darling of the moment.
Phew. I think that takes care of that for now.
Thank you all for commenting and agreeing to be my pal. I hope to meet you all in person one of these days.

I was in highschool when St. Helens blew the first time. I remember the old guy who refused to leave and watching the destruction on the news footage. The ash was all over Portland and down to the Salem as well. Interesting times. It keeps hiccuping right now but nothing eventful. They are really looking at the Cascade range now and Mt. Hood. Lots of earthquakes and activity. If Hood went, Portland would probably be hit pretty hard.

Hey, dude--

You are my amigo, tomodachi, etc., etc.

Hope the Santa Monica gig went well. We were shaking things up at Palms-Rancho Park Library. More later.

Hi Eric - thanks for the invite - love your list of fave books!

Eric,
I completely agree on the Thai food in L.A. I used to live in Toluca Lake (did a stint at the L.A. Times) and I had some of the best food of my life in California. Great stuff!!

Hi Eric,

After your great talk at the last Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles meeting, I can't wait to get my hands on "Grave Imports."

Thanks for the invite.

Interesting...why do you have a different publisher for the paperback of Living Room? You were lucky to be able to make the changes, though. I can imagine that would bug you. Oh, and great title, too. Good luck with your books!

Thanks for the invite!

Not yet, I guess there's still time if I come across something I want to live with.

Hi Eric,

Thanks for the invite. No tattoos, huh?

Amazing! I'll make sure to come down and get my book signed. Yes, Hawthorn is right smack down town Portland! I look forward to meeting you in person! =)

thank you for adding me as a friend! I look forward to reading your work.


Kris

Hi Eric-
Thanks so much for the invitiation...as a recovering antiques dealer pretending to be a mystery writer, I'm looking forward to GRAVE IMPORTS.

Hey there. Thanks for the friend request. Great picture.

Good luck with Bleak House. They have been great to work with so far. I feel like we're all colleagues and friends, rather than simply publisher and writer.

Hey Eric,

Thanks for the invite. Your stuff looks interesting. I'll have to check it out. I hope to make the jump to Bleak House as well. They just bought a short story of mine for a Chicago mystery anthology and they have my latest manuscript under consideration.
Best of luck with your new releases.

Hi, Eric:

Thanks for inviting me to your Crimespace Friends list. You have a most impressive profile and website, and I wish you luck with your new books and success with current projects.

Hope to learn more about you (and perhaps vice-versa) here. We mystery writers have to stick together.

Best,

Dorien