Ordering dinner this evening at the bar/cafe area at the DocTrain West conference hotel:

Waitress: Would you like cheese on your burger?

Me: Yes please, what cheese do you have?

Waitress: Oh we have everything just order what you want.

Me: OK, I'll have pepper-jack then.

Waitress: No problem, that will be right out.

[10 minutes later burger arrives with plain looking cheese on it]

Me: That doesn't look like pepper-jack.

Waitress: No, it's monterey jack.

Me: So you didn't have any pepper-jack then?

Waitress: No.

Me: And you didn't think to come and ask what I may have wanted instead?

Waitress: No, not really - we have everything in stock, so I just choose the closest one.

Guess who didn't get a big tip this evening?

As the two regular readers of this blog know, when I'm on a business related road trip I usually post a little something about the city I'm visiting, sometimes it's detailed thoughts and observations, other time it's just the odd observational comment. But I've now been in Santa Fe, New Mexico for two days now and haven't posted anything. Why is that you may ask? (And if you didn't - shame on you!)

Well it's all Gill's fault.

On the drive up from Albuquerque to Santa Fe we decided to take the scenic back road known as the Turquoise Trail. About half way along we stopped in the old mining town of Madrid, where my amazing wife persuaded me to do something I've been contemplating for a couple of years now.

Purchase a journal.

Not just a standard blank journal that you might find in any old book store, but a hand crafted one with a hand stitched leather cover encasing several hundred pages of hand-made pulp paper. The sort of thing those Victorian adventurers who made intrepid trips across dark continents would have used to log their travels.

Over the years I've seen journals like this I've always loved the pure feel and smell of these type of books. They seem to exude a promise of journeys to come, and discoveries to be made.

But I've always wondered what I'd use one for - until Gill stated the obvious - "Use it to keep your own travel journal - a written one for a change."

Wow - what a concept - paper-blogging using a pen instead of a keyboard - can I actually do that?

Who knows, but I intend to try. So during this trip, and hopefully trips to come, I'll be attempting to capture my thoughts and observations in a more traditional style.

I'll still post the occasional electronic blog note, and may even include a few extracts from the note book as I go.

So what I need now is a good title for the travel journal. - Any ideas?

Back in June I took the following photo from my phone while lazing on the beach on the gulf side of Galveston Island.



This morning that same general area looks like this...




(Photos from the Austin-American Statesman).

In the last couple of years Galveston has quickly become one of our all time favorite places. The beaches and the touristy stuff (where these photos were taken) can be fun for a few hours, but what Gill and I fell in love with is the old town with its Victorian charm, art galleries, theaters, coffee shops and excellent restaurants.

Above all there was the Coppersmith Inn - an amazing B&B that has become our home away from home when we need a weekend break. No word yet on if it's survived this weekend, like it did the great storm of 1900.

We wait in hope.

(For those people who may be wondering how Ike affected us here in Austin - at its closest the eye was perhaps 140 to 150 miles away, and the only impact we've had is the occasional buffeting wind.)

Back from a weekend on Galveston Island. Three days with no laptop, avoiding newspapers and TV. Spent the mornings at the beach, the afternoons wandering the streets of the Victorian old town district, and the evenings eating great food and drinking some excellent wine.

Took a side trip on Saturday afternoon to Houston airport to deposit Erin on her flight to London. She is now back in the UK spending two weeks visiting family. Gill and I will have the house to ourselves for the first time in eighteen years!!

On Sunday morning we realized that it was the first time we'd been to the beach as just a couple since our honeymoon, way back in the mists of time.

Left hotel in Philly at 7:00am to catch train to NYC.

Spent the morning in various meetings at DC Comics - got introduced to new people, picked up advanced copies of some cool new stuff, learned some stuff, got some great advice, and set up a few things for San Diego next month.

Lunch time and early afternoon hours in the Wall Street area for day job related business meetings and lunch.

Walked back up Broadway to take in unique experience that is the streets of NYC, and capped off the day shooting the breeze for a couple of hours with friends in a coffee shop.

Grabbed a quick drink and meal in the bar at Penn Station and now I'm back in Philadelphia.

Exhausted, but a worthwhile day.

We were the first up in this year's Vendor Showcase but rather than do the usual product pitch / demo that is the usual offering I spent an hour on "Why Publishing is No Longer The Last Step in the Process," giving my thoughts on how Web 2.0 is impacting the Technical Publications industry.

Seemed to prove popular - the "room" (actually a curtained partitioned area off to one side of the show floor) was full to literally bursting - people were looking in through the curtains as all the seats were gone and there was no more standing room. I was told there were also a lot of people just standing outside listening even if they couldn't see the actual slides. I was asked if we could do a repeat "performance" before the show ends - have to check with the organizers to see if we can get another slot.

Overall it was one of the best days we've had at an STC show with pretty much constant traffic on the show floor and at the booth - on our feet solidly for 9 hours meeting, greeting and talking.

The joke conference ribbons I had made up are turning out to be popular and the "intrigue marketing" angle is working well in drawing people to the booth.

After the show we ended up in a bar on Chestnut street, just a few blocks from Independence Hall, The Liberty Bell and all those other Philly must-see things, watching the (ice) hockey Stanley Cup Final game, until a local drunk decided to "adopt" our group. He eventually got thrown out - but we'd had enough and headed back to the hotel - talking history as we went. A topic that is basically unavoidable in this city.

Had a good, if somewhat long trip home on Friday followed a great day out with Gill and Meggan today.

Started to feel a little tired around 7:00 this evening, but now it's 2:00 am and I'm wide awake writing up a comics story idea that won't quit bouncing around in my head, and downloading more Bond art scans...

Foot traffic on the trade show floor was a little lighter yesterday, but picked up in the last two hours.

The show finished mid-afternoon which gave me a couple of hours to head into downtown for an explore. Managed to find the local comic shop and was disappointed to find that it only stocked American comics. There was nothing I couldn't get back home. I had been hoping to pick up some French language BD Albumes, but I guess this is the wrong part of Canada for that.

Had better luck at the large branch of Chapters in town where I picked up The Art of Bond and a copy of Winning Is Not Enough,the UK release of F1 champion Jackie Stewart's autobiography. The autobiography comes with a DVD that holds a mini-documentary on Stewart's life and career that includes interviews with several of the people he mentions in the book. I look forward to watching that and seeing how it compliments the book. In theory it sounds like a great way of combining traditional biography with the needs of this video driven generation.

A few blocks away I came across McLeod Books an amazing second-hand book store that was like a blast from the past. No neatly organized shelves of books here. Just sections of the store designated for particular areas of interest with the overflowing stock stacked in teetering piles on any available surface and across the floor. It made walking around the store like navigating a maze, while searching through the books themselves was an expedition into uncharted waters. I emerged a little dusty, but clutching a pristine copy of the 1966 TIGER Annual with a great painted cover depicting mid-sixties Grand Prix racing.

At my writers group's last get together I'd mentioned the old British James Bond Annuals and received blank stares, followed by the question "What's an Annual?"

I'll be taking the Tiger Annual along to next week's session to demonstrate.

Now I'm all packed and will be heading out after breakfast to catch my flights home. Flying through Salt Lake City today, which will be the first time I've been in Utah. So that's another State to add to my list.

A full day conferencing from 7:00am till 6:00pm and then back to the room to grab a room service dinner and continue working on The Illustrated 007 manuscript for a few more hours.

So never set foot outside the hotel yesterday, nor did I make it to the local comic shop the evening before.

My speaking slot seemed to go well as the room was full to capacity and beyond (with a few people standing around the walls). There were lots of really good questions asked, and people even laughed in the right places at my feeble attempts at humor.

Need to get out today and see a bit more of the city if possible.

Between the 7:00am conference call, reviewing a podcast, working on my presentation and demo for tomorrow, sitting in on a friend's workshop, and ad-hoc meetings I haven't had much chance to get out and see the town.

However I did manage to sneak out for a stroll around lunchtime and stumbled across the HMV Mega Store. With hand firmly grasping my wallet I entered the temptation that was the DVD basement. There at the back of the store was a whole wall full of classic British TV shows - yet I still emerged without spending anything. With the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Canadian "loonie" now close to parity shopping for DVDs and CDs here is no longer the bargain it once was.

Sneaking out to grab a coffee (Perhaps the easiest thing to do in Vancouver as there is literally a coffee place on almost every corner - in fact I passed on junction today that had two Starbucks diagonally opposite each other on opposite sides of the street!), I spent a pleasant few minutes in the bright, if somewhat cool, afternoon sun sipping my java watching the commuter sea-planes take off and land.

There's an early evening conference reception later, after which I plan to see if I can find the nearest comic book store. According to the directions given my by the hotel concierge it's only about 7 blocks away, and the store website says it's open till 9:00pm.

Today was travel day as I headed north to Vancouver for a week long industry conference (I'm speaking on Wednesday morning - gulp!). Had good flights from Austin to Denver, and Denver on to Vancouver, where I had the opportunity to debut my newly minted US passport in front of officialdom from another country.

Managed to get a lot of work done on the flights, more background BOND reading, write up my notes on the recently published 106th issue of Comicopia, write a quick short story based on a challenge issued by a fellow Copian, as well as starting some background research reading on Christopher Marlowe for my in development novel.

After arriving at Vancouver a jump in a cab and give him the name of my hotel. After we've been going for about five minutes he suddenly asks, "Is that the one on Hastings?" Now we are talking about the premier downtown location of a major hotel chain here, not some mom & pop B&B. I figure he should really know where it is.

Once we establish its location he turns round (luckily while we are stopped at a red light) and says "Will $35 be OK." - sounds about what I usually pay for an airport to downtown ride so I agree. 10 mins later I glance up and notice the meter isn't switched on. OK now I know I'm being had.

We eventually arrive on the aforementioned Hastings Street and he pulls up in front of the wrong hotel! Luckily I spot the correct one on the other side of the street, pay and hop out before we can do another guided tour around downtown. (And you can guess what sort of tip he got - an invisible one.)

After I check in and unpack I stop by the concierge's desk to see if they can recommend any nearby cafes for a quick snack. Of course being the idiot I am, I have to ask what the average cab fare from the airport should be - $25 - OK lesson learned - use the airport shuttle when I'm heading out.

Plan for this evening is to grab a quick dinner at the hotel and get as much work done on The Illustrated 007 as possible before the rest of the week disappears in meetings and various conference related social activities.

Things kick off tomorrow with a 7:00am conference call - nice!!!

So back in January I booked my flights and hotel for my annual trip to San Diego for ComicCon International. This year, as well as annoying several editors with my pitches, I will be working the Hermes Press booth in exchange for one of the coveted Exhibitors passes. The magic piece of plastic that will get me on the show floor before the hordes descend and moving about becomes an almost physical impossibility. Of course I will also be spending my time on the booth promoting The Illustrated 007, so being there for the Wednesday night "preview" was essential.

No problem, I simply booked a flight that would get me in to San Diego about midday on the Wednesday, giving me time to find the hotel, unpack, settle in and head to the convention center to register, and meet up with my publisher before the off. - Mid January it was all done and settled - or so I thought.

A few weeks ago I get an email saying there had been a "minor change" to my schedule - instead of just going Austin-Phoenix-SD, I was now going Austin-Phoenix-Vegas-SD. OK not too bad. Then I checked the times - they now had me leaving Austin on Wednesday evening and getting into San Diego in the early hours of Thursday.

Last Friday I spent an hour on the phone with a nice lady at Expedia and explained that arriving at 1:30am on Thursday didn't really fit with having a 5:00pm Wednesday evening business commitment. After much messing about she found a flight leaving Austin at 8:40am that would get me to SD at 11:22 Wednesday morning. - Perfect.

Or so I thought.

Sunday I get an email saying that US Airways had made a "major" change to my schedule. I was now scheduled to fly out from Austin at 6:20pm and arrive in SD at 9:30pm. So much for "I need to be there before 5:00pm".

Another call today and I find that Expedia have no record of last Friday's changes. Thanks to the very helpful Rhonda, who takes the time to contact the equally helpful Courtney at US Airways, we get it sorted and I'm now back on the 8:40am flight, that I may, or may not, have been booked on last Friday, and seemingly bumped from over the weekend.

Confused? - I sure am.

Just keep you fingers crossed that when I turn up at Austin airport a few months from now I still have a seat.

Well the tumble weed came a rollin' through the trade show floor today. But at least I got a ton of work done on other stuff that I needed to catch up on.

The end of the day presentation played to a small, but select, audience who asked great questions. The booth is now dismantled, packed up, and waiting to be shipped back to Texas.

We fly out tomorrow morning, but first I need a good book store, a drink, and good food - and not necessarily in that order.

- The trade show layout was terrible,so we got only sporadic foot traffic all day.
- The wireless connection on the show floor was about as intermittent as the arrival of visitors to our booth.
- It's cold and drizzling and miserable to walk around outside.
- I have a sudden writing deadline to meet (1000 words needed by end of day tomorrow)
- I have a couple of reports to get done ahead of a conference call meeting that is scheduled for 7:00am tomorrow.
- The movie DVD I bought with me is scratched.

Overall a really wonderful day so far....

Got up at 4:30am to watch the Australian GP (yes I know I'm mad). Glad to see Lewis Hamilton score another win, but was even more impressed by Sebastian Bourdais bringing back markers Torro Rosso up to 4th before his car expired just two laps from the end. And with all the millions F1 team spend preparing for a new season you think they could keep more than six cars running by the end of the race. The retirement rate was approaching farcical.

At 6:30 headed out to Austin airport to catch my flight to Portland (via Phoenix) for a work related trade show / conference. It seemed like everyone was leaving the SXSW music festival a day early as the airport was heaving, and every flight was full. Seemed there was a lot of problems with the over abundance of guitar cases as the baggage on our flight had to be unloaded and reloaded - twice. We ended up leaving 45 minutes late, which, as we had a scheduled 50 minutes to make our connection in Phoenix, was leaving things a little tight.

I guess it must have been downhill to Arizona because when we got into the terminal and checked times we actually had ten minutes in hand, Of course we'd arrived at the far end of Terminal A and our next flight was leaving from the remotest corner of Terminal B. A quick walk, run, gallop later we arrived at the gate bang on departure time - to find everyone milling around waiting for the pilot to turn up!!

Eventually made it Portland, and, after a mildly nerve racking taxi ride, found the hotel. Checked and made sure our various packages had arrived OK before heading out to find a pub.

Was impressed by the waitress. About half way through the meal she stopped and asked "Judging by what you are ordering do you mind asking if you are Gluten intolerant?" - quick girl - she then ordered me a special dessert and comped me a drink because she hadn't picked it up quicker.

Now back at the hotel, trade show booth is all set up, promotional goodies are unpacked and all set for a 9:00am kick off tomorrow morning.

Tonight will be spent catching up on some writing and maybe a stroll to the hotel bar for a night cap.

Hoping to get out tomorrow evening to enjoy the town and find an Irish Pub in which to celebrate Paddy's Day

In the Buckhead area of Atlanta at a work related conference. It's a packed schedule and I'll be pretty much stuck in the hotel till Friday morning. When I do get a few gaps I'm working away of the God Shop script and finishing off the latest Comicopia contribution. So no travelogue this time around. But given that all I saw from the shuttle bus on the way in from the airport was hotels, office buildings and an upscale mall I doubt it would have been much of one anyway.

Talking of travel - I've now got my flights and downtown hotel booked for San Diego in July. So I can sit back with a self satisfied smile on my face next week when the ComicCon International hotel reservation system goes on line, and the geek portion of the internet implodes as 100,000 people try to simultaneously book the remaining 20 available hotel rooms.

Back to writing...

Over on the excellent Saddlebums Western Review blog, movie reviewer Doug Bentin finishes off his review of one of my all time favorite movies Tombstone with this..

And if you ever visit Tombstone, AZ, you’ll feel something like a lover of the King Arthur legends feels when visiting Tintagel Castle. You can walk through the Bird Cage Theater and the OK Corral and know just why it’s so important to print the legend.

I've been lucky enough to have visited both Tombstone and Tintagel - and you know what - he's right.

There is no feeling to match that of walking in the footsteps of legends.

Just found out that during a business trip to Denmark back in September a friend of mine from here in Austin was on board this flight when it did this...



His only comment - "we had a bit of a rough landing."

After a leisurely, if somewhat luke-warm and rubbery, Sunday morning breakfast at the hotel in downtown Cleveland, and with the day stretching before me as my flight wasn't till late in the evening, I thought I'd once more venture out, this time in search of a coffee shop where I could sit and write.

No such luck - nothing could be found in a reasonable walking distance, so back to the hotel.

Then I remembered one place I knew that was warm, hand cozy seats and a Starbucks - the shopping plaza at the airport.

Some hasty packing, a unnecessarily lengthy check out process and a bumpy cab ride later I was checked in, through security and ready to settle down for several hours of serious writing.

But first stop was at the Continental Airlines desk to see if I could get an earlier flight. There weren't any other direct flights, but I could leave Cleveland earlier and go through Houston - sit there for a few hours and get into Austin a whole 10 minutes earlier than my scheduled direct flight. - I decided to stay put.

Turned out to be a highly productive afternoon:
- Got one comic script plotted and blocked out
- Wrote the first half of the full script for another comic
- Got past a sticky plot point on a proposal by realizing that if I took something the editor had said and spun it 180 degrees it made the story a whole lot stronger and gave it a much deeper meaning.
- Read a couple of books I had with me for research purposes, in one of which I discovered a couple of historical characters I'd previously been unaware of but now will definitely be making an appearance.

Spent the flight home reading Vol. 3 of the Judge Dredd Complete Case Files - a great refresher on how to tell an entertaining and action packed story in just a few pages.