Marla here! When Stacie Grey told me she was going to take a whirlwind tour of (almost*) all the Barnes & Nobles in the Bay Area in one day to celebrate the release of her new thriller, She Didn’t Stand a Chance, my first thought was, “I want to go with you!” My second thought? “No, I don’t!” I’ve braved Bay Area traffic, and this sort of adventure is not to be taken lightly. So I did the next best thing and asked her to tell us all about it. Take it away, Stacie!
Visiting (almost) all of the Barnes & Noble stores in the San Francisco Bay Area on release day: A step-by-step account.
Preparation: I’m up! It’s Tuesday morning, August 12th, the day my latest thriller, She Didn’t Stand a Chance, is released into the world. To celebrate, I am going to try to visit almost* all of the Bay Area B&Ns and sign stock, and try not to loose my mind in the process. Hoping that, in this case, the book title does not prove prophetic.
*Corte Madera was left off the list because of distance and my deep disinclination to drive through San Francisco and across the Golden Gate Bridge at rush hour. Maybe next year.
Departure: My starting point is Alameda, where I live, an island in the San Francisco Bay. It’s just after 8 a.m. I zero out the trip counter on the car and head off.
Stop 1, Walnut Creek: I planned a strictly geographical route, starting at the northern part of the East Bay, working my way down to San Jose and then up the peninsula. The one deviation is this store, which is open an hour earlier than the others. I guess the people of Walnut Creek like to get their books early. Leave and sample the local cuisine, by which I mean I get some breakfast at Starbucks.
Stop 2, Concord: Not the one in New Hampshire. There are a lot of cities in the Bay Area that share their names with better known places, including but not limited to Newark, Albany, Kensington, and Pittsburg (yes, spelled like that). This Concord is a sunny suburb in Contra Costa County, where people apparently gather in the B&N coffee shop as soon as it opens, and an enthusiastic older customer will have a long conversation with the (equally knowledgable) bookstore worker about recent science fiction.
Stop 3, Dublin: See above, re: place names. We remain deep in the eastern burbs, where parking is plentiful and palm trees are the mall foliage of choice. Every store so far has had both my books in stock, and the workers have been unfailingly cheerful and enthusiastic. Certainly, there are worse ways to spend a day than by interacting with bookstore people.
Stop 4, San Jose: Do I know the way? Well, Google Maps does, and it’s 34 miles from my last stop. It’s getting on for noon, which is well out of any rush hour, but the traffic on 680 cares not for your human schedules. It is eternal, and relentless.
Stop 5, Redwood City: I choose to take 280, the Peninsula’s scenic route, for the first leg of my journey back north. A slight delay crossing over to El Camino Real as we wait for a confused deer to clear the road. At the bookstore, the employee moves my book to an endcap display after I sign it. I consider a stop at Jamba Juice, but I’m on a roll.
Stop 6, San Mateo: Back to my old stomping grounds! We lived in San Mateo for several years, before decamping for Alameda. All of the bookstore people I’ve met so far have been great, but the manager here was really on top of things, getting me the books to sign and also setting me up not only for a signing there**, but also connecting me with the manager of the new store that’s opening soon in Los Gatos. I was thinking about finding some lunch, but time is getting away from me, so I buy a bag of Cheez-Its and a Coke at the cafe and we’re on our way.
**This has since happened. I sold 5 books, 6 if you count the woman who used Barnes & Noble’s internet to order one on her Kindle.
Stop 7, Burlingame: Things are starting to fall apart. Up until now, every store I have stopped at has had a nice big parking lot in some sort of suburban mall situation. But this one is right on the main drag of a very popular downtown, which is absolutely crawling with people on a random Tuesday afternoon. “Don’t any of you have JOBS?” I mutter to myself as I attempt to visit my seventh bookstore of the day while mainlining Cheez-Its.
Stop 8, San Bruno: Short version: I survived. In fact, once I was able to find parking, the Burlingame store was perfectly nice, though smaller than the others with the fewest copies on hand. Next, another mall, with plenty of parking but windy enough that I regret my wrap dress. While the store employee was looking for my book, I think I hand-sold Janice Hallett’s latest to some shoppers. I may not be the best at this marketing thing.
Stop 9, Emeryville: Back across the Bay! The Bay Bridge at commute time is no joke, and it’s almost 4 p.m. by the time I reach it. Traffic is a slog, but I make it, to the mall where I spent many happy hours (and dollars at The Gap) in my twenties. By this point, I’m pretty wiped out, but the store manager looks at my name and says, “Oh, I know you! Every time we put out more of your books they’d sell right away.” It’s amazing what that does for my energy levels. I sign, pictures are taken, and I leave the remainder of my bookmarks before heading home.
Arrival: Eight and a half hours and 161 miles later, I pull back into my driveway. The dog thinks I’ve been gone forever; I’m tired, hungry, and ready for a drink.
Would I do it again? Sure, why not?
Readers, have you ever undertaken an epic quest? (Bonus points if you tell us what snacks you took!)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stacie Grey is the USA Today bestselling author of California-set thrillers She Left and She Didn’t Stand A Chance. She lives in Alameda, California, with her husband and dog. In what passes for normal life, she works in biotech research. She mostly posts to Instagram and Threads, and occasionally writes a newsletter. https://staciegrey.com/
Chicks on the Case 
I salute / applaud you for doing this.
The only epic event I undertook was moving from NYC to North Carolina by way of New Orleans.
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That’s a big one, Dru! Wishing you all the best as you settle in!
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You’ve definitely got me beat on distance!
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Stacie! Congratulations on the release of She Didn’t Stand a Chance. What a fun recap! I loved it. Thank you so much for visiting with us today and sharing your adventure. You’ve inspired me to try it. The closest I’ve come to an adventure like yours is joining several other authors for joint book signings at four Barnes & Nobles in the Kentucky/ Ohio area in one day. Never. Again.
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Ha! I was going to say that sounds fun, but never mind… 🫣
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Jennifer, too funny! Ha!
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Four actual signings in a day is a lot! I do one and I’m wiped out. Drop ins are much easier–I hope you can find a route in your area!
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I applaud your ambition on this one! Bay Area traffic is no joke, and if you time it wrong, you’re stuck spending 40 minutes just getting on a bridge. I’m curious what you did during the long stretches of road: Audio book? Singing along with the radio? Dead silence and a steely-eyed gaze of determination? Regardless, it seems to have worked! Congratulations on hitting USA Today bestsellers list!
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I’m a strictly “listen to music in the car” kind of person–podcasts and audiobooks are too distracting while I’m driving. I have satellite radio and IIRC, I think I heard “Manchild” four times on my route.
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Hurrah, Stacie! So glad you’re here! That’s an amazing trip you took, and congrats on your latest release! I think I’ve only been to two of the locations you mentioned; I used to work in the San Jose area.
Anyway, the only epic journey I took was driving from SoCal up to Portland. It was fun–but I made sure it was spread over multiple days!
P.S. Am tempted (but also wary) to do a bookstore hopping thing.
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Do it! It’s fun (in retrospect, anyway). The handy thing about B&Ns is you can check on the website ahead of time if a store has your book, so you’re not stuck with the soul-sucking experience of asking if they have it in stock and then slinking away when they don’t.
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That’s a pro-level tip!!
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I do that at B&N because, yep, not fun when the books aren’t there.
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Great tip! Thank you!
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I applaud your dedication! Having lived in Contra Costa county (yes, Concord!) many years ago and remembering the traffic then, I cannot imagine doing what you did.
Congratulations on the new book and the sales!!
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LOL! It really is no joke. And now I’m thinking of adding Corte Madera next year. . .
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I love driving and am always willing to get in the car and head out. Drove from AZ to Maine a few years ago and loved it. That said, I hate driving in traffic, so you are either one brave human or out of your ever-loving mind!
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That is currently under debate.
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Where is a laugh emoji when you need it?!
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I love this so much, Stacie! And yes, Bay Area traffic is the worst–though Hwy. 280 is the most beautiful eight-lane freeway in the world, I am sure. (Did you see that they finally got rid of that hideous Father Serra statue from the rest stop last month? So it is now even more beautiful than ever.)
I’ve never attempted such a road-quest as this–at least not all in one day. But then again, I detest driving. Going across the island from Hilo to Kona for a book event is quite the event for this gal.
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I think you win for best scenery on a book signing route! So glad they got rid of that stupid statue–some things don’t need to be celebrated.
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Obnoxious, but also SO ugly!
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Congrats, Stacey. I salute your ambition, but I don’t think all the snacks in the world could get me through a day like that. The most epic quest I took was in college: 3 friends and I drove from Olean, NY to Milwaukee, WI and back in the span of 48 hours – and watched a basketball game in between the driving. I don’t think we took any snacks. But I was 20 at the time.
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It’s amazing the things we could achieve in our twenties, isn’t it? By the end of one day I was absolutely wiped out–even the Cheez Its did little to revive me.
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Stacie, wow! Props for even getting one B&N to host you, no less all of these. (I can’t get the one in neighborhood interested in me without a guarantee of 50 people at least.) And what an adventure! My great-aunt lived at Rossmore in Walnut Creek, so I have a bit of familiarity with that Bay Area traffic. You’re a trooper!
I guess my epic quests would be the research trips I’ve taken for all my series. And if the trips were in Louisiana, pralines would be the snack of choice. CA? Fruits and nuts. Just like the old joke.
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Ha! Maybe I should pack themed snacks for the next one? It’s about an earthquake, though–what goes with that?
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Hi Stacie! Waving from Concord (NH) here! We don’t have many B&Ns in this whole state, so I could probably do them all in a day. But sadly, they don’t stock book. (Yet.) My most epic road trip was an impulsive one–packed up the kids and left Brooklyn after work on a whim for a long Memorial Day weekend in Myrtle Beach. When we arrived, though, it was a huge Bike Week party. We had to avoid the main roads through town, but no one else was at the beach!
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Concord to Concord greetings! I just applied for a job in Newark (CA), which I think is going to cause a lot of confusion if I get it. I do love an impulsive road trip, though. One time my husband and I took off on one based on coin flips, and accidentally went to Yosemite.
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Accidentally, ha!
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I live in Northern CA. Congrats on visiting so many CA cities!
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