Escaping Reality on a Monday Afternoon

Update: Escape Artists Do It Again! 

We are problem-solvers, we are wizards, we are shape-shifters — we rock, as once again a short stack of terrific friends and I tested ourselves at The Escape Game San Francisco. 

On Jan. 30, we outsmarted The Heist, reportedly a tougher nut to crack than the Gold Rush Days, which we bested back in September. (Read about that first adventure below.) 

Okay, so once again we solved the riddle with under a minute to spare in the hour we were allotted — but who's counting!  

We studied great works of art to discover their secrets, decoded Egyptian hieroglyphs, used a laser to activate the powers of three African masks, pondered clues revealed on a Scrabble board, gathered actual puzzle pieces, figured out codes that opened locks, did a magic trick to pull a cork out of a bottle, perused art books, followed clues revealed by a black light and finally found the Monet painting hidden in the crooked museum curator's office. 

Did we have to ask for clues from John, our Game Runner? Of course, and we are not ashamed. He told us previous players had to ask for LOTS more clues than we did. Hmmmm — that's what our Game Runner said last time, too. Maybe they say that to everyone? 

We also thought we might be displaying our treasure upside down when the Game Runner took our photo (we were), but he quipped, "It's Monet, how can you tell?" and went off to monitor another group.  

What a great afternoon! We brainstormed together, laughed a lot and enjoyed the game. If you've never tried an escape game, gather up some pals and go for it. (St. Louisans: Head for Adventures of Intrigue, an open-concept escape room.)    

(Original Post) 

Escaping Reality on a Monday Afternoon

Five friends and I ran away today, all the way back to Gold Rush Days. Did we attend a lecture? Drive up Highway 49 to tour the towns that housed the mines? See a film? 

No. We booked an hour in an escape room, which is kind of a scavenger hunt held in a series of locked rooms that reveal clues to help you and your friends “escape” before an hour is up. Read more here. We played at The Escape Game San Francisco. 

Full Disclosure: We escaped, with just 1 minute and 55 seconds left on the clock! 

The Takeaway: It was fun! It was not easy, but it was fun, and we were quite proud of ourselves for finishing, though we did have to buzz our game monitor for a lot of clues. The set up was kind of corny and most of the clues were not intuitive. In fact, some of the clues seemed obvious only after we sorted it out and we all were discouraged at the sight of one clue that required algebra. Algebra! 

Other than dealing with that annoying math, together we used logic, analysis and imagination. In the course of the game, we found whiskey bottles with numbers on them, unlocked many a combination lock with some of those numbers, handled rifles, counted points on deer antlers, opened more locks, used jumper cables to blow up some dynamite, finally figured out what the flashing lantern meant and even siphoned the contents of a canteen. Two friends opted to climb through the mine shaft.                                        

And at last, we found all the miner’s gold!

Phew! Good thing we went out for Happy Hour afterward.    

Inspired by my son's enthusiasm for Escape Rooms, starting about a month ago, I spent an hour doing the research and getting a recommendation for a game that was perfect for people who have never tried one before. Then I had to talk my friends into taking part — some of us had concerns — and then I nailed down a date and booked the game. 

What were our concerns?

I worried that in spite of a lot of experience (A LOT) with word games, I would be bad at this. I was not entirely wrong — my contributions were small — but it’s too late to impress these friends anyway. One friend worried about claustrophobia, but anyone is free to leave at any time. We all wondered if we would fail to solve the puzzles and be stuck forever in a dead gold miner’s cabin. (At least it was air-conditioned on a ridiculously hot day.)  

Here’s how I sold the idea: “It's ONE HOUR. Ever had a root canal? Even if the escape room doesn't turn out to be your favorite new thing, it will beat an hour in the oral surgeon's chair." (I know whereof I speak.) I reminded everyone this adventure was all about fun, and we would make it so.

The History of Escape Rooms

An off-shoot of first-person video games, a concept that grew in popularity in 2004, in-person escape rooms started in 2007 in Kyoto, Japan. In 2012, a company called SCRAP opened the first escape room in the U.S., in San Francisco. Today, cities in more than 60 countries offer the games, driven by an increasing demand for “unique and immersive entertainment experiences.”

We happened to choose an historical theme, but escape rooms also are available in several genres, including horror, fantasy and science fiction. One marketing assessment noted that 75 percent of escape rooms “prioritize narrative and thematic elements to enhance player engagement."

According to Allied Market Research, “The global escape room market size was valued at $7.9 billion in 2022, and is projected to reach $31 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 14.8% from 2023 to 2032.” MarketWatch has reported that in the U.S., the market is expected to reach $1.75 billion by 2026. Our adventure cost us $52.50 a person, because we opted to keep it to the six of us, rather than the eight allowed in any one escape room at a time. 

Families visit escape rooms. Corporations send employees for team building. Friends book sessions for fun, as we did, and the experience reminded us that it's always good to try something new! 

(Thanks to my friends who took the photos!)  

On Wrangling Author Interviews

People — I need people! 

That’s my conclusion after investing many hours searching the internet, making phone calls and sending emails in attempts to line up interviews with book authors.

In some instances, I suspect the effort required to help promote an author’s work sometimes takes me more time than the author spent writing a single chapter! Why? Book authors who have hit the big time have people — publicists, agents, editors and personal assistants — and connecting with any of those people often is difficult, though most authors I've encountered do want to promote their work by talking to reporters like me who enjoy writing about books. 

For four decades, I’ve interviewed authors about their latest work, their process, their future projects and even their personal lives. In the past, I loved talking with Phil Rosenthal. Read my interview with Louise Penny here; my article on Daniel Pink is here; and here’s another favorite, my interview with Mary Pipher. And that's just a few examples.

Occasionally, scheduling interviews is a snap, and I easily meet my deadline. Sometimes, publicists and agents even come to me, requesting that I interview an author they represent. Other times, I spend weeks, even months, trying to schedule an author interview. 

Few of these writers are ever aware of just how many guard dogs I’ve had to disarm to get the interview, and many have sent me lovely notes after we’ve spoken — often thanking me for having read their books before I interviewed them, which apparently is rare. 

Where I Spied Anne Rice's Secret Message to Readers

I know that from personal experience. I’ve written books, 15 of them, for national and regional publishers. Once when I was a guest on a morning TV talk show, the host kept flipping through my newest book — clearly the first time he had held it — and remarked repeatedly how great the photos were. As it was morning, I was barely awake, or I would have pointed out I didn’t take any of the pictures.

Reading a book before an author interview always pays off, for some obvious reasons and others as well. I once spied a sentence in a book that seemed to directly address a recent public admission from Anne Rice about her pen name. When I interviewed her, I mentioned that sentence. She said I was right, and added that I was the only person to ever ask her about it. 

Finding that subtle announcement years ago was easier than securing some interviews today. At one time, most book authors included an email address on their websites. That’s no longer so, though some do provide a contact form. I’ve filled out dozens of the forms, and rarely hear back. Apparently, many authors’ personal assistants do not monitor interview requests sent through contact forms on websites. 

On one form I submitted, I pointed out that the author’s name was misspelled on the site, but no one cared enough to answer — and it hasn't been fixed, either. 

Here's the Number to Call to Order a Book

A phone call to a publisher’s editorial division used to work well. The individual who answered (gosh — remember those days?) would kindly provide the name and email address or phone number for the author’s editor, or, at the least, contact information for the publicity department. Today, few publishers make public the phone number for the editorial division, but they all are happy to offer a number to call so you can place an order for the author’s book.  

Here's one of my secrets: Often, authors express thanks to various editors on the acknowledgements pages of a new book, and that's a great place to score a name or two. That said, editors and publicists seem to change jobs often, so even when I find email addresses online, a lot of the time they are out of date, and my interview request emails bounce back. 

Book Authors and Your People: If I can’t reach an editor, a publicist, an assistant or the author, how can I schedule a time to talk and help promote the book? I suspect part of the problem is the volume of interview requests received by the people who work for authors, especially famous ones. Of course, sometimes, when I’ve established contact with exactly the right person, I get a flat “no’ for an answer — though on at least one occasion, that decision was reversed.  

After repeatedly turning down an interview request, an agent called early one morning to offer me 15 minutes on the phone with the author — right then. Ironically, my “I-just-got-up” voice matched author/playwright/actor Harvey Fierstein’s distinctive gravelly rasp, but I got the story. 

Promises I Hope Authors' People Will Keep

Some publicists try to satisfy inquiring reporters (and bloggers and influencers and other social media stars) with releases that feature a canned Q&A session with an author. When I was offered one recently, I replied that parroting a release would not suffice, as I had a contract from a publication that requires original work from professional journalists. 

That seemed to satisfy the publicist enough to offer me an email interview, where I submit questions and the author responds via email. That’s never ideal, as it isn’t a real conversation, and offers no opportunity for spontaneous follow-up questions to surprising answers. Plus, I wonder why publicists haven't sorted out that email interviews always take authors more time than a 20-minute phone interview.

Still, I accepted, I crafted five meaty questions and I told the publicist the author had a month to respond. That deadline has come and gone, but I remain hopeful. On June 12, I requested an interview with another book author. I’ve now “met” electronically seven different people on her team, and two of them have hinted that soon I may be granted an interview. Stay tuned! 

All the barriers in place that keep writers from interviews with book authors seem so counter-intuitive to me — but maybe I’m looking at this the wrong way. Instead of trying to wrangle interviews, perhaps I need people of my own to do it for me.