Random Acts Of Kindness In California

I had an absolutely wonderful time yesterday with my cousin Rachael and her friends. For her birthday, Rachael wanted to perform "random acts of kindness," so a bunch of us met up in a park near the ocean in Long Beach and formed a "kindness mob." We then approached, well, random people and Rachael would hand them a small wrapped gift. She gave a tub of Play-Doh to a mom and little girl and California Pizza Kitchen gift certificate to the man who took our photo, among others. I didn't hand out any gifts, but I liked being outside in the sunshine with new friends.

One thing that pleasantly surprised me was that every person accepted the little gifts without much question. The Play-Doh even got the little girl to stop crying! I wasn't expecting people to be so willing to take things from strangers because we're a pretty suspicious bunch in New York City. We're all, "If you see something, say something," so we'd probably call the cops on someone who as handing out presents. Sad, but true.

However, Rachael is pretty tiny and youthful looking so she hardly looks dangerous. The most suspicious anyone got was the man who took our picture and kind of looked at us like "WTF?" when she handed him the gift certificate. Rachael now wants to hand out gifts in Central Park so she can see what happens. I told her that if she wants to take on an even bigger challenge, she should hand them out while wearing a tinfoil hat.

That evening, we celebrated Rachael's birthday at a garlic-themed restaurant in Beverly Hills called The Stinking Rose. There, I got to meet her uncle from her dad's side of the family (in other words, not related to me), as well as some other friends. What's interesting is that the uncle is also a writer, mainly of short stories. It makes me wonder if certain talents and types of creativity are genetic? It's funny how Rachael and I spent years not knowing of the other, but she, too, is a writer and plays the flute.

Only two more days of vacation and then it's back to the grind -- but it will be an exciting grind since it's the start of my book tour. Woo hoo!

Meanwhile, please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Greetings From California -- New Twitter Address!

Hello from sunny California! We're having a great time in Los Angeles. The weather is gorgeous and we're missing the "Frankenstorm" Sandy that's barreling toward the East Coast. Seems like we picked a good time to get out of town.

My cousin lives in a beautiful Spanish-style ranch with nice, open rooms. She and her husband have two dogs and an African Gray Parrot -- and the bird and I are roomies! Their guest room also doubles as the room where the parrot's cage is kept, so I got to sleep with the bird last night (not in the bed; he was safe in his cage). When I awoke this morning, the bird was staring right at me.

Last night, I had a couple of odd experiences. First, I was jolted awake when I heard an electronic voice barking at me from beneath the mattress. I thought tht I was going crazy -- or the house was haunted. But when I woke a bit more, I realized that it was one of those toys that says things. I managed to dislodge it and it stopped talking to me, but man, did that freak me out. I then woke again around 4 a.m. and could see a single bright star when I looked out the window. I didn't expect to see any stars in Los Angeles, so this one was super bright. I'm thinking that maybe it was Venus?

Once we were up for real, we spent the day relaxing, reading, writing and puttering around the neighborhood. We're having a barbecue tonight and I'm going to reunite with a couple of my old pals from Soap Opera Digest. I worked with these guys for 14 years so it's going to feel weird seeing them with me no longer working for the magazine. Still, we'll always share a bond because we went through something together that not too many people can understand. Tomorrow, I'm seeing an old childhood friend who is also in the publishing industry. It's cool to be surrounded by so many other writers.

Meanwhile, some exciting news -- I finally set up an official Naomi Rabinowitz Author page on Twitter, so I'm no longer using my jewelry page for book tweets. My handle is simply @NaomiRabinowitz Check in and follow me so you can get news on me and my book!

And you can still get REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD for 99 cents!

California Dreamin'

Greetings from 38,000 feet! Right now, I'm on a plane to Los Angeles. I've never used in-flight WiFi before and I have to say that it feels weird to be communicating with all of you Earth people while I'm in the air.

I'm heading out to see my cousin Rachael, who, as I'd previously mentioned, edited my final version of BAND GEEK. Since she's my cousin, friend and editor, does that make her my ... creditor? Heh.

I'm excited to meet more family whom I haven't yet met. My immediate family is very small, so it's nice to get in touch with more relatives. It's even nicer when said blood relations become friends.

Rachael has a lot of weird, but fun ideas for us, such as doing a zombie walk and taking dancing lessons. She also wants to do this thing called "Random Acts Of Kindness." I can't wait to see what goes into that!

It will also be nice to take a few days off from the craziness of my book launch. It's been fun, but busy, and it's only going to get more so when I return. Though I will keep blogging and will fill you in on my California adventures.

Until then, please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, now only 99 cents.