pet connection

Book Expo America is the nation’s biggest publishing industry trade show, second largest in the world. This year it’s in Los Angeles, and it starts today. Our publisher, Health Communications, Inc./HCI, has a big booth, of course, and the focus of their efforts this year is the “Ultimate” book series, which include the three books Dr. Becker and I have been working so hard on this spring, along with our co-authors. (The publisher has a bound galley of the dog book ready for the show, along with “samplers” of the other books.)

I was planning to fly down this morning, but I am fried. (We finished the books around 6 a.m. on Tuesday.) So I’m going to spend today hanging with the pets and leisurely doing a little laundry and then pack to go.

With my flight canceled, I’m choosing to drive tomorrow instead of fly today. Maybe crazy, but I wanted to switch. I’ve logged a lot of sky time in the last couple years, and it’s ugly up there. Volkswagen gave me permission to take this week’s DogCars.com test car, the Jetta SportWagen, on the road trip. (Usually reviewers have the vehicle for a week, and are not to put more than 500 miles on it.) I’m hoping the drive will be a little mental “reset” button for my tired mind, and I’m grateful the Jetta is pretty fuel-efficient.

It’s six hours door to door, which means eight hours with traffic, probably. I’m having lunch Friday with my college buddy Russ Stanton, who’s now the editor of the Los Angeles Times. (I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around that. I mean, he was always smart, hard-working and talented, but Editor of the Los Angeles Times? Wow.) Then I have to run to the first of the book-signings in the L.A. Convention Center, one on Friday and two on Saturday.

This is just for the industry … like everyone else, we’ll be trying to impress the buyers from bookstores and from the big retailers like Target and Costco.

Signings late Saturday afternoon, and then if I have any energy left, I’m going to drive home Saturday night. More realistically, I’ll crash in the hotel room the publisher has provided and drive back early Sunday morning.

And then … I swear … no travel for a long, long time. I wanna stay home with my pets and my garden!

Pupdate: I just found out that my friend Teresa is competing all weekend at an agility competition in Pasadena (Teresa has Jazz, written about here, and also Sprint, the fastest agility dog in the world and sister to my girl McKenzie.) So … looks as if I’ll be spending Sunday morning at the park next to the Rose Bowl!