Lunch with people you know

The I-35 corridor between San Antonio and Austin, TX used to be nothing but wide fields on rolling hills coupled with groves of trees interrupted by two small towns -- New Braunfels and San Marcos. It is now non-stop buildings occasionally broken up by open fields and the occasional tree. The freeway is three lanes the entire way and has non-stop traffic along the whole 70 mile route. The only way to drive it now and not be depressed by the cancer of suburban growth is in a light fog or mist, as was happening this morning. It shrouded the blight with a layer of soft grays and light blues and greens that reminded me of the first time I drove up there so many years ago...in a 1970 Plymouth Duster, going 80-85 in a 65 zone and not getting caught by any roadside cops. A friend and I were going to check out the bar scene, both of us being fully legal for the first time, and found it wasn't all that much better than SA -- just younger and more college oriented...which suited me; I was thinking about returning to school.

When I graduated High School, I lucked into a job in the visual merchandising department of Frost Brothers, a high-end department store in downtown San Antonio. Because of my art background, I was brought on to help design and build backdrops for the windows for the company's two stores. I was doing well enough to have my own apartment, buy a car, have a few credit cards and go out drinking every Friday and Saturday night. But when we hit Austin I thought that'd be a great place to start a new direction -- in film. I was already a Hitchcock freak and had read Truffaut's book of interviews with him so knew Hitch had started in the art department before moving to directing. So why not me (as so many Hollywood stories go)?

Well...a few months later came the Yom Kippur War and the first oil embargo and gas prices shot up and I decided it would be too far to go to Austin for school, so I checked the local colleges, stumbled onto Trinity University and wound up going there, instead. It was a great experience, too. Very free and open and I made friends I still have, from there.

Anyway, today I drove up to speak with the publisher of my books. A lot's been happening, it seems. All of them are (or soon will be) available on Barnes & Noble, now, as well as through Ingram (which owns B&N) and by the end of March will also be set up to download to Kindles or iPhones or desktops or whatever. They're up and running in not just the UK but all across Europe and Japan and will be printed and sold through Bulldog Book (store or wholesaler; I'm not sure about that) in Australia. So I'm no longer just internationally available, I'm worldwide. Imagine what this does to my ego -- .

Not. It's still a bit hard to accept or comprehend. Especially since I've seen the sales figures. We ain't talking Stephen King volume here even when all figures are lumped together, that's fer dang shore.

So now I'll get back to my latest round of viciousness in RIHC6v2. If I can get it done before I leave for NY, I'll be happy. Fingers and eyes crossed.