san fran!

I was in San Francisco! It was an extremely brief trip! I went mainly for personal reasons, but I was able to mix a lot of fun and a bit of work too. It was rather inspiring to see the things on the left coast--like the buildings,

I love the colors of some of their houses!

And a baby! I met my friend Anna's new daughter.

Isn't she adorable? I gave her the Tiger onesie...she's kind bursting out of it, though!

I also got to visit the Chronicle Books office. They are the publishers the books I illustrated a while back-- Round is a Mooncake, Red is a Dragon, and One is a Drummer. They do such beautiful books! I hope someday to work with them again.

Anna at the Chronicle Books reception area, which is also a bookstore.

Editor Melissa Manlove & me. Before this, she had only been a name in e-mail--such fun meeting her!

And I also did a little research for future books. Anna, her little family and I went to Chinatown and I saw the fortune cookie factory I've been meaning to see for a long time:

It was so small! I felt awkward poking around but it did reinvigorate a novel idea I had many years ago...so a new seed is sprouting!

Of course, I can't work on that idea until after "Return to Sky" and my other projects are finished; but considering how long I think before I write (usually 3 years) this is a good thing.

And we also went into a Chinese tea shop, which had hundreds of kinds of tea. It reminded me of the tea shop I went to in China, but this was better because I could read all the signs.

Including the one that priced one tea at $800. a pound!!!

They let us try little samples, too. This is me trying the $800 tea:
It was good...but I don't know if it was worth $800. I left with a $12 canister of lychee tea, instead.

But the whole thing was fun and very helpful because I *think* the main character of "Return to Sky" may work in a tea house.

It was a great visit to San Fran! Hope to go again soon!