I was glad the BlogHer conference was held in San Francisco, because it was only a 30-minute ride on BART to reach Berkeley, the home of my publisher, Seal Press. (Note: you say that you ride BART, not on the BART, as a local told me. Otherwise you will be immediately made as a tourist.)

This is the North Berkeley BART Stop. And man, are they crazy about their bikes in California. You would never see this many bicycles in Indiana, which is probably part of the reason our obesity rate is so high.

I got a ride to the office, which is on a quaint little street with shops and restaurants. Later, their was excitement over a Nicole Richie sighting, which made me wish I worked with more women, because there’s no way the guys in my office would get excited over that. Seal Press shares its offices with the Avalon Travel department.

I got to meet my editor and the publisher, Krista, and a lovely receptionist with a cool bandana.

I got a tour of the offices, where the Seal staff work to put out books for women, by women. The walls of the office are lined with all the books they’ve published. Damn, that’s a lot of books.

I got to chat with everyone who’s worked so hard to put out my book and make it a success. It was good to finally put faces to email addresses. Prior to my visit, I’d only communicated with the Seal staff via email or phone. I went out to lunch with Krista, Brooke, my original editor, and Jen, my marketing manager and my sometimes travel agent.

Brooke and Jen expressed their love for burgers while I munched on a delicious salad.

Reading this back, it sounds like a big, old, advertorial for Seal Press, but I swear, they really were awesome. It was great to meet so many smart, business savvy, women who are running a publishing imprint. I’ve been very satisfied working with them and I’m proud to call myself a Seal author.