Upcoming Event: I have a book signing coming up at Judging By The Cover in San Dimas on August 29th at 10:30am. I hope you can come and make a day out of it (see below).
I’ll join the chorus of Southern Californians complaining about the recent hot and humid weather. We liked to differentiate ourselves from the East Coast with our “dry heat,” but not this summer. It feels like Satan’s armpit these days, but summer is winding down. I know this because my kids are whining about going back to school and having to wake up before 8am.
Outside of the weather, I managed to have an okay summer. Instead of traveling, I wanted to show my kids different neighborhoods around LA and visited places from my childhood. On one memorable day, we rode the Metro A line and stopped at Pasadena for matcha and salt bread from Wa-Iro. We then hopped back on the A line to visit Chinatown and visited Chunky Things and Paper Plant. If I remember correctly, it was the same day Mexico was playing South Korea in the World Cup because I do recall people around town donning their jerseys. It was buzzing in LA during the World Cup and it was pretty magical to see the city come alive.
I also spent the summer eating my way through LA. My husband still gets influenced the old fashioned way (watching The Food Network) and we made it to some local spots. I crossed off something that had been on my LA Bucket List for years and attended my first concert at The Hollywood Bowl. It was a bit of a trek to get there and I’m glad I hopped on a shuttle because parking is terrible. All that said, I can see why it’s a great venue. You get to bring your own food and drinks (alcohol too, for LA Phil events) and you basically get to watch the sun set while the performance is going on. It helped that we were there to see Joe Hisaishi and listen to music from Studio Ghibli films. There was a sense of fondness for the movies among the audience that made for a warm and healing experience. The most amazing thing to come out of that night is how calmly everyone exited the venue, even through some of the narrow walkways.
More recently, I got back into playing tennis because I want to be more active, but I don’t want to go to the gym. My racket is in terrible shape, but I can’t find another racket I like at the moment. My kids, who never seemed to have an interest in sports before, wanted to tag along and now I find myself coaching them more than I’m playing. But it’s a great excuse to buy a bunch of new gear (for them) and get out of the house together.
Now that summer is coming to a close, I’m happy that we approached this summer with more curiosity and flexibility. There were plenty of days where we spent indoors away from the heat, sleeping in sometimes or cooking together. I think we all needed a break from really structured schedules and working so much (though I did work. Money doesn’t grow on trees!). Overall, it was nice to take things a little slower and reset.
Cue “San Dimas High School Football Rules” by The Ataris.
If you’re planning on coming to my book signing at Judging By The Cover (thank you!), I have a few recommendations for your visit.
Parking: There’s plenty of parking behind the store, but it’s also accessible by Metro. It’s about a five minute walk from the San Dimas stop on the A line.
Breakfast: There’s a diner next door to the bookstore called Roady’s if you want that retro, greasy spoon experience. A few doors down, there’s Sweet and Savory which has pastries and coffee. A little further away, there’s Butter Cafe which has Filipino breakfast options, extra crunchy tater tots, and pastries too.
Make it a book crawl: There are bookstores in the surrounding neighborhoods if you want to go on your own mini book crawl:
The Reading Nook (Glendora)
TBR Books (Claremont)
Cafe Con Libros Press (Pomona, CA)
Morgan’s Books (Upland)
I’ll be honest. I was really worried that I wouldn’t be able to come up with a new idea. I pitched an idea earlier this year and it didn’t get very far. I needed a little time to mourn and sit with that rejection. I reflected a lot on whether or not I wanted to write another book. I’ve always said that I never expected to be a published author. Publishing one book is already a big accomplishment to me and I don’t think I need to write another book to prove anything to myself. There have been discourse about how longevity as an author requires not giving up. I’ll admit that I thinking about giving up a lot! But I’m not as motivated to write for the sake of “having a career” as an author. I know if inspiration strikes, I will write another book. I at least know that much.
At my last event, I mentioned an idea I was working on, which I’d never done before. It was really risky because it could’ve been crickets or at best, polite nods. Thankfully, people seemed intrigued and wow, it was so encouraging. I’ve since developed a synopsis and it’s starting to look like a more fully formed pitch. And if this pitch ends up getting rejected too, I know I can give up bounce back.
What I’m watching: My family’s current obsession is watching Castle Impossible on HGTV. The premise sounds like something out of a romance novel. Imagine inheriting a chateau and renovating it with your husband. Each episode focuses on a particular room and the transformation is incredible. I mean, I could never.
What I’m reading: I recently finished an advanced copy of “Fetal Position” by Carolyn Huynh. First of all, wow. Like what is this speculative world she’s created where women can opt to have a family without men and AI robots can do all your mundane housework? But when you’re a lonely, burnt out independent woman living in this world, you might be tempted to retire into a startup community where you can get a house and childcare for free as long as you’re a surrogate using organic sperm (I know. I didn’t have the words “organic sperm” on my 2026 bingo card either). It doesn’t come out until December, but you can preorder it now.
What I’m listening to:
Enjoy! And with that,
-jt
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