With apologies to the late Herb Caen, here are some scenes and impressions from my weekend in L.A., where I attended the 2012 American Library Association’s Annual Conference, held on June 21 through 26 in Anaheim:

Wednesday, June 20:  My ALA odyssey began on Wednesday afternoon, with a five-hour drive from my ranch in Colorado to spend the night in Albuquerque in order to catch a nonstop crack-of-dawn flight from the ABQ Sunport to LAX . . . Finally got to listen to the audiobook version of HUSH MONEY on the drive down, which was a strange, exhilarating, and, at times, frustrating experience . . . Actor Dan Butler does a fine job overall, but his pronunciations of certain Hispanic names and equestrian terms (i.e., Enrique to rhyme with unique, and dressage to rhyme with message) had me shouting at the dashboard . . . Approached downtown Albuquerque at around 6:00 p.m., just in time to witness a brushfire flaring in the Rio Grande bosque that had drivers pulling to the side of the I-25 to snap photos . . . New Mexico, Colorado and the greater Southwest remain tinder-dry, even along the rivers . . . Thinking of those impacted by the fires, I retire early, for the ungodly 4:00 a.m. wake-up call.

Thursday, June 21:  First time I’ve ever boarded an airplane (American Airlines, in this case) to find the plane otherwise full, but the exit row empty, so, needless to say, I extracted my 6-foot, 3-inch frame from my assigned seat and took advantage . . . Drove my rental car from LAX to Pasadena, where my good friend (and Pasadena City Councilman) Steve Madison’s guesthouse would serve as my weekend headquarters . . . Had a delightful lunch at Julienne in San Marino with the brave and wonderful Bonnie Anthony, whose husband Don Mike’s untimely passing is the subject of a recent blog post . . . Visited a few local attractions, including Vroman’s Bookstore (purchasing a great One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest t-shirt for my niece), the Pasadena Museum of California Art (Edgar Payne exhibition), and the Autry Center in Griffith Park (Howard Terpning exhibition) . . . Southwestern Colorado has its charms, but great art museums are not among them . . . Dinner at Le Grande Orange, where I was introduced to the principals of LitFest Pasadena, the Crown City’s nascent literary festival, to which I now hope to be invited next May . . . Did I mention that Pasadena is a great city for authors?

Me and Deb Coonts at lunch

Friday, June 22:  Started the weekend with a bang when, in a three-way morning conference call with my N.Y. literary agent (from the David Black Agency) and an L.A. film-rights sub-agent (from CAA), I detected genuine enthusiasm on the latter’s part for turning HUSH MONEY’s Jack MacTaggart into a television series character, and my forthcoming true-crime novel HARD TWISTED into a theatrical motion picture . . . I’m a realist, of course – some might even say a cynic – but still, it was a damn good meeting . . . Drove to Anaheim to have lunch with author Deborah Coonts (of Lucky O’Toole fame) and plan our one-on-one panel “Laugh or I’ll Kill You,” scheduled for Saturday morning . . . We finally decided to just be funny . . . During lunch, received an unexpected e-mail from the Wolfe Pack, the Rex Stout fan club/literary society, inviting me to address their Saturday Afternoon Assembly, which is part of their annual Black Orchid Weekend in NYC in December . . .  Huge thrill for me, as I cut my teeth on Wolfe, a fact which is also the subject of an earlier blog post . . . Finished the day off with Woody Allen’s new film To Rome With Love at ArcLight in the old Cinerama Dome in Hollywood (where, if memory serves, I first saw Star Wars many moons ago) . . . Has anyone noticed that there’s an awful lot of traffic in L.A.?

Saturday, June 23:  Having no idea what to expect, I was stunned to arrive at the Anaheim Convention Center and witness first-hand the spectacle that is the ALA Annual . . . Over 20,000 attendees – mostly librarians – plus hundreds of exhibitors, authors, booksellers, and fans of all things literary, filling every nook and cranny of an enormous convention facility . . . It was, to paraphrase Warren Buffett, like attending Woodstock for bibliophiles . . . Here’s Molly Ringwald, signing her memoir . . . There’s the lone figure of George R.R. Martin, sitting, somehow unnoticed, at the Tor/Forge booth (I gave him a signed copy of HUSH MONEY) . . . Over there is a poster announcing the Rock Bottom Remainders’ final performance, slated for later that evening . . . The panel with Deb Coonts, held at the Pop Top Stage on the open convention floor, was a hoot, and we each signed dozens of books afterward . . . I caught up with my old friend Luis Herrera, who now heads up the City of San Francisco’s public library system, and made a point of introducing him to the City’s own Kelli Stanley . . . My afternoon panel with authors Mike Lawson, Caroline Todd, Brian Freeman and Charlie Newton – and moderated by Kelli – entitled “Location, Location, Location,” was both spirited and informative, and we all flirted with writers’ cramp in the signing frenzy that followed . . . Met my old friend Lenny Catalano afterward, and we drove up to Staples Center in L.A. in time to meet Steve and his wife and catch the Ortiz-Lopez fight, which was a classic . . . Fight crowds are noticeably different from library gatherings.

Sunday, June 24:  Spent my getaway day with Steve and with our friend Mike Hurley at Doña Rosa, in Pasadena, solving the problems of the world . . . Always great to visit L.A., where I spent four years of college and 25 years of law practice . . . Soaked up plenty of local color and atmosphere, which I’ll try to capture in the pages of GREEN-EYED LADY, the first sequel to HUSH MONEY, coming in May of 2013, and in the many Jack MacTaggart books to follow . . . And now, back to the vineyard, and the horses, where I’ll resume praying for rain . . .