The Tahoe Lake-In-The-Sky Air Show

A few weeks ago at the end of September, we had another "Lake In The Sky" airshow at the South Lake Tahoe airport. It was great fun.

Three biplanes flying over Cave Rock

For airshow snobs, it might not be much compared to the monster shows like the annual Oshkosh, Wisconsin airshow. But I've been to the Oshkosh show, and I can tell you that our Tahoe show is better in many ways. 

First, you don't have to park a mile away and fight monster crowds. Second, and even better, you get to see cool planes flying "Right There!" above your head or a only hundred feet away to your side. Compared to Oshkosh where you need binoculars to see the planes fly, Tahoe's show is amazing.

The variety of planes was impressive, and the flying was spectacular.

Here's the link to the Lake In The Sky airshow.

Below are a range of pictures. (Can you tell from them that the 12-year-old boy inside me is alive and well?!)

Here they come!

A Hellcat heading out onto the tarmac

A Japanese Zero following him. Will they have a dogfight?

Zero and Hellcat ballet at 300 miles per hour

In Front of Trimmer Peak

After the Hellcat and Zero show their moves, it's time to check out the other aircraft.

Classic warbird

Flying boat

Flying wing

Here's a Canard design, with the small wing forward and the main wing aft.

 Next, comes the biplane air show, beautiful planes, amazing maneuvers.

#1 of what I thought of as the Three Musketeers

#2 (This was flown by an 81-year-old pilot!)

#3 Sweet Paint job!

Up we go

Three's company

Pulling 6 Gs

Up and over

If you don't go all the way over, you do a tail slide until you flip around

Soon, come the choppers.

In comes the Sky Crane. This one is outfitted with a water tank.

The dangling pipe is for sucking up water when they hover over a lake.

Then they fly to the fire and drop their load.

This chopper arrived while we all watched, flown in by a woman pilot and set down so smoothly a glass of water on the dash wouldn't have spilled a drop. The announcer loved telling all the girls at the show about the woman pilot. "You want real Girl Power, learn to fly one of these!" he called out.

At the end of the show, the planes all flew off into the gathering clouds

It was a great event for all.

A Reality Check For Authors

Note to authors: If you write books, here's something basic about the business that will make your job much more clear.

Authors are responsible for selling their books. Not publishers, not brick-and-mortar bookstores, not online bookstores, not libraries, not gift shops, not the local Rotary book sale. It is the author who motivates someone to try his or her books. The venues that put your books into distribution or - if you're lucky - actually stock them on their shelves, are merely making them available to buy. It's the author who has to get a reader to search out his or her book and buy it. If you think otherwise, you are setting yourself up for serious disappointment and, probably, career failure.

A few weeks ago, I was at a library author event with something over a dozen authors. The library invited the authors, provided them with space and tables, and publicized the event in local media, both print media and online media. The library even made sure that the publicity mentioned each author's name along with some basic information about their books. The library printed up name sheets for each author's table.

By my standards, the event went well. People showed up and bought books. I don't know how many books were bought or how successful the various authors were, but I sold a bunch of books.

Afterward, I heard one author complaining to one of the librarians, saying, "I didn't even sell one book." The author went on to say that one of the exhibit rooms was not clearly marked and not enough people went in there.

The only reason I wasn't incredulous was that I've seen it many times before, authors blaming everybody but themselves for getting no traction with their book. I wanted to say, "At no expense to you, the library cleared out their space, put up tables and chairs, publicized the event including getting your name and your book's title in the local media, and you have the audacity to complain to them that you didn't sell books???!!" I wanted to say, "How many postcards did you send out about the event, how many emails, how many phone calls? Was it on your website and your social media pages? Did you hand out flyers about it at your last event? Have you even done other events?" I didn't say it, but maybe I should have. It might have given that author a helpful reality check.

I understand disappointment. Books are hard to sell. Every author secretly hopes that their book is good enough that it will somehow find an audience by itself. But it doesn't work that way. Books don't go viral like cat videos.

Do your research. If you spend even a fraction as much time learning about the business of books as you did writing your book, you will learn that no book sells without significant effort on the part of the author.

"Wait," you say. "James Patterson's publisher does all this press and advertising. His books are bought by millions who've never been exposed to his efforts." Right. That's because he built his audience step by step, working at it 8 days a week for decades. I've never heard of a single successful author who didn't pound the pavement, introducing her books to the world. There is no successful author out there who would think that not only should a library set them up in front of readers but also figure out how to sell their books. Authors who succeed recognize that it is an incredible opportunity to be given a venue and media coverage all for free, and they would promote, promote, promote, driving readers into that library any way they could. Just like they drive readers into bookstores. Just like they drive readers to Amazon. Authors have to sell their own books because no one else does.

If you are serious about developing a readership, then get serious about learning how to introduce your books to the world and plan to work on it continuously. 

I've mentioned some effective approaches in previous blog posts, so I won't list them again here. But here's a tip. Find books that sell - especially those by relatively new authors - and research what that author did to make it happen. Then mimic their efforts. Do the same things they do, set yourself the same schedule, give just as many talks, go to as many schools, exhibit your books at as many or more festivals of all kinds, send out as many emails and postcards, make your website just as attractive, post on your blog just as frequently, make what you post just as compelling, and make your social media approach just as comprehensive. And if you're self-publishing, hire the same professional book cover designer, format the inside of your book to make it look just as professional as theirs, develop your characters to be just as captivating, work your future books into a single series or connect them all up in some fashion so that if a reader likes one they'll buy the rest.

Libraries are a writer's best friend. They introduce your books to readers who would never otherwise find them. And libraries do it all at their expense. Learn to work with libraries. Be grateful for what they do.

But don't expect them, or any other institution, to sell your books. Authors sell books.

Best Hikes In Tahoe - Rubicon Trail

Category - Moderate - Experienced hikers in good shape can go the entire distance, less experienced hikers can choose their distance.
View Rating - 10 out of 10!
Distance - Maximum distance 11 miles round trip - But you can go out and back as far or as short as desired.
Elevation Gain - 350 feet
Highest Point - 6600 feet
Note that dogs are not allowed on the trail.

Rubicon Trail runs from Rubicon Point at D.L.Bliss State Park on the West Shore, south to Emerald Bay and, for those with energy, back along the north side of the bay to the Vikingsholm Castle. 

You can hike it from either direction. If you arrange to be dropped off or picked up, you can go one way - about 5.5 miles from the D.L.Bliss parking lot trailhead to the Vikingsholm parking lot on the highway above the castle. If you go round trip, you double your distance. If you want to trim that a couple of miles, you can go round trip from Bliss to the Vikingsholm Castle and back and skip the walk from the castle up to the Vikingsholm Castle parking lot.

Note that D.L. Bliss State Park is closed for the season, so if you want to hike the northern portion of the Rubicon Trail hike, you'd have to access it from the highway or from Emerald Bay to the south.

We prefer to hike it from D.L.Bliss because if you want to do a shorter hike and just go out a couple of miles before you turn back, the trip from Bliss to the opening of Emerald Bay is very fun. Even more so, the northern portion from Bliss has some of the most spectacular vistas because that is where the underwater cliff goes straight down about 1200 feet, one of the grander underwater cliffs in the world. The result is that the water has the deepest, bluest color of nearly anyplace on Tahoe.

Be sure to bring lots of food and water in case you decide to hike farther than your initial plan. Also arm yourself with good maps, whether from a hiking guidebook or from Google Maps.

This is the highway sign marking the park entrance.

Drive all the way into the park, staying to the right. You'll see this sign marking the trailhead.

From the very beginning of the hike, you'll look down at the amazing color of the water, caused by the great depth of the water. You're standing on the top edge of a cliff that goes 1200 feet straight down into the water.

In places, the trail goes along vertical rocks. Don't worry, the railing is strong.

Here's looking back at one of the rocks you have to duck under.

Here is a place you can look straight down into that astonishing blue.

There are some spectacular coves.

In the distance to the southeast, you can see the ski runs of Heavenly.

Here's a Sugar Pine, heavy with the world's biggest cones. (The cones grow up to 24" long.) Do you suppose this tree is so fertile because it's looking at the world's greatest view?

We found a great lunch spot. But PLEASE don't climb out onto the rocks unless you are sure-footed. If you fell, it would be your last fall. Note the kayaks down on the water.

In the distance to the south, you can see all the way to Steven's Peak.

Looking down on trees from above with that blue backdrop... Wow.

I'm pretty sure you won't find a hike anywhere in the world with more beautiful water. Enjoy!

Wagmore, A Real Life Ringer For Spot

I was recently chatting up readers when I was exhibiting books at an art & wine festival. Somebody asked about Spot, the 170-pound Harlequin Great Dane in my books. As I began to answer, I noticed a crowd of people across the street. They were all congregating around something I couldn't see. Whatever it was, it had people excited. I heard shouts of, "Oh, my God, look at that dog!"

Some people shifted, and I finally saw what all the fuss was about. A huge Harlequin Great Dane.

So of course, I had to go over and meet Wagmore, a gorgeous two-year-old Dane who, it turns out, just happens to weigh 170 pounds.

Wagmore is a Therapy Dog In Training, and it was easy to see that he would calm and soothe anyone suffering any kind of stress or anxiety. In the course of 30 minutes, I watched as several dozens of people pet him and hugged him, all while he performed his magic of giving everyone loving attention completely free of any hint that he was a substantially bigger carnivore than a mountain lion and he had huge teeth to match. 

The collective blood pressure of the entire crowd dropped in Wagmore's presence. The smallest children ran to him and reached up to pull on his jowls or yank on his tail. The largest men wrapped their arms around him as if they'd known him since he was born instead of having seen him for the first time seconds before. Women leaned on him and didn't want to leave even after they'd had multiple photos taken.

I spoke to Wagmore's owner, who told me that these street events were part of the socialization of a therapy dog. As a result, Wagmore was comfortable in any size crowd for any length of time. Because Wagmore was calm under all circumstances, he brought out the calm in people. 

Getting to meet Wagmore was a gift. If you want to know more, Wagmore has his own Facebooks page here.

A Local's Look At The Tahoe Keys

Let's say you like boating and you want to buy a house in Tahoe. Or maybe you want to vacation in Tahoe and stay directly on the water, close enough to the main lake that you can kayak out in just a few minutes. Let's also suppose that you don't have two or more commas in your bank account. 

We have a place for you at the Tahoe Keys.

The "Keys" is a housing development on the South Shore, and it is made up of miles of dredged canals that are lined with approximately 1500 upscale homes and townhouses. Nearly every residence has a private dock, so life in the "Keys" is a great way to get a living-on-the-lake experience at a fraction the cost of one of the fancy houses directly on the main lake.

Google Map of the "Keys"

Google satellite view of the "Keys"

Because of the price/value relationship of waterfront homes, Tahoe Keys real estate is always in big demand.

The "Keys" has a Home Owners Association that every owner must join. As with most HOAs, this provides some significant Pros and Cons to life at the "Keys." 

There are restrictions on what you can and can't do with your property. Some people don't like such constraints, but you probably will appreciate that your neighbor can't permanently park a giant RV with a trailer in front of your house. Nor can your neighbor paint his house with pink and blue stripes.

The HOA provides multiple recreation facilities, indoor and outdoor pools, beaches, and tennis courts.

The downside to the HOA is primarily that the mandatory dues are around $2000 a year for houses and much more if you have a townhouse where the grounds and exterior are maintained by the HOA. 

There are other rules, but you get the idea.

The "Keys" also has a small commercial area with some merchants and professionals. There is the Tahoe Keys Marina as well as The Fresh Ketch, a popular restaurant.

If you get serious about moving to the "Keys," you will learn about its controversial past, specifically, the fact that it was begun in 1959, which, unfortunately, was back when developers thought that dredging and paving and steamrolling the land was the best and highest use of real estate. So they took a huge wetland area around where the Upper Truckee River emptied into Lake Tahoe and began digging canals. For those readers who weren't yet around in those days, what we now call valuable wetlands used to be considered useless swamps and wasteland good for nothing but breeding mosquitoes.

Of course, we now know that wetlands are the natural filter for running water. Before the "Keys" development, the Upper Truckee water flowing into Lake Tahoe was clear. After the "Keys" were begun, the water was a muddy brown streak coursing out into the blue lake.

To this day, they are still trying to fix the problem. They've made some progress, but much more work needs to be done.

But there is no going back. The "Keys" may be an environmental nightmare that is slowly being improved, but it is also a wonderful neighborhood of waterfront homes.

Here is the channel out to the main lake.

A classic Chris Craft "Woodie" heading out to cruise the main lake. 

A gentleman and his dog motor in past Lighthouse Shores, one of the Tahoe Keys areas that faces the main lake.

Whether moving to Tahoe or vacationing in Tahoe, check out the Tahoe Keys. It is the only place of its kind at one of the world's premier lakes.

Best Beaches In Tahoe - D.L. Bliss State Park

D.L. Bliss State Park Beach – West Shore

Parking – Limited - You must get there early!

Fee - $10 per vehicle

Dogs – Sorry, not allowed on the Beach nor on the trails nor left unattended anywhere. (But leashed dogs are allowed in the camping and picnic areas.)

Boat Launch – No, unless your boat is a kayak, paddleboard, or canoe that you can carry to the water.

Note that as of this writing, D.L.Bliss State Park is closed for the season. So you might want to bookmark this for use next summer.

To get to this great beach, drive north from Emerald Bay up the West Shore a couple of miles or so and look for the sign. Or drive south down the West Shore a mile or so from Rubicon Bay or about 4 -5 miles south of Meeks Bay.

Look for the park sign.

This is the highway sign at the park entrance.

Once you pay at the gatehouse, the drive winds its way in over a mile. (They will give you a park map when you pay.) Near the end of the drive, the road splits. Going to the right takes you to the Rubicon Trailhead. Going to the left takes you down to the beach. If you get there early, especially on weekdays before July 4th or after Labor day, you can park at the lot right on the beach, making it very easy to carry your lunch and umbrella and Tahoe Mystery novels to the sand.

This is a view of the south beach from above. Rubicon Point is at the end of the beach.

This is the view of the south beach from down on the sand.

This is the north beach, right next to the closest parking lot. Wow.

What a great place to hole up with a novel. Is that Marlette Peak across the lake?
I can almost see the Flume Trail, which is featured in the book I'm reading, Tahoe Killshot.

How To Sell Books And Grow Your Writing Career- Exhibit At Art & Wine Festivals

If you're a writer and you want to get some attention for your books, there is simply no better way than exhibiting at a popular art & wine festival. Specialty book festivals like the L.A. Times Festival of Books or the Tucson Festival of Books are good, but you are competing for readers' attention with 650 other authors. Much better to be the only author at an Art & Wine Festival. Thousands of people attend these things, and the readers will notice you and remember you. 

This is the Mountain View Art & Wine Festival where I recently exhibited.
The crowd was huge, and people were buying books! 

Yes, it is expensive to get a tent ($200) and banner ($100) and pay the entry fee ($250). But I know authors who spent $6000 on a publicist and got a few radio interviews, a newspaper column, and no book sales that they could attribute to the expense. Are publicists bad? Of course not. Many are good, and many produce good results. But if you want serious results for nowhere near as many dollars, getting in front of readers at a festival can't be beat.

This is my display tent, a 10' X 10' EZup tent. You can get cheaper versions at Costco.

You will sell books at a festival. How many depends on many factors like whether or not you have professional covers, whether or not you smile and are friendly, whether or not you have just one book or an entire series, whether or not you have some free handouts like color postcards that advertise your books, whether or not your books are available cheap on Kindle. (While many people buy paper copies, many people also take my card and order them on Kindle. I know because I can see the bump in Kindle sales starting the very first night of the festival.)

You can get your books in front of more people at a popular festival than any other way.

The bottom line is that you will sell books because lots of people simply love to meet authors and support their books! (Yes, you will also notice that hundreds of people won't even notice your tent. Those are the people who don't read. But the addicted readers will absolutely stop and check you out.)

I have a 10-foot-long colored banner and a few smaller banners with review quotes.
I have a tablecloth on a cheap folding table from Costco,
and I put my books on wire stands that you can buy from Amazon.
I get cheap, over-sized postcards from Vistaprint with my book covers printed on them.
Hundreds of people take them. Often, they look my books up on Amazon and buy them for their Kindle

Will you make expenses and lots of money on top of that? Not at the beginning. I certainly didn't. But unlike paying for advertising or a publicist, at a festival you will absolutely find people who will buy and try your book/books. If your book isn't very exciting or professional, they won't spread the word. But if you have a top-quality book, your rep and cred will grow, and your career will expand. 

The thousands of dollars that you might otherwise spend on publicity will get you an entire season of weekend shows including hotel costs. Compared to investing in any other business, it costs very little to do a summer's worth of festivals and get yourself out there in front of hundreds of thousands of readers.

I've been selling books since 2001. From my experience I am confident about what are the best things you can do to jump-start your writing career.

First: Write some great books that make people email their friends and rave as soon as they turn the last page. If you don't do this, you will have a serious uphill battle. But if you do this, you've done the most important thing of all.

Second: Get out into the crowds and show people your books. And the single most effective way to do that is to exhibit at art & wine festivals. I've done them for years. My audience is now large enough that I could quit doing festivals and just focus on writing. But I won't because they are simply too effective at finding readers. 

Go for it. If you don't know how to scrape up the money, skip your annual vacation or eating out for a year. You put an enormous amount of time into writing your book. Now invest in your writing career. What have you got to lose?