I managed to get a last minute Exhibits Only pass and a spot on a bus down to DC with TCLC, a consortia to which my library belongs. So with no preparation at all, I flitted down to ALA for a couple of days!
The girlfriend convinced me to get a car (thank you PhillyCarShare, you make my life possible!) and drive down on Sunday, as the TCLC bus was only good for Monday. I'm so glad she did! I'm also eternally grateful that she came with me and acted as my PA, passing out my card to publishers, taking pictures, carrying stuff, and, most importantly, reading me the list of author signings on the drive down so we could have a plan of attack.
This allowed us to show up at the Random House Pavilion (seriously, "booth" does no begin to describe their set-up) in plenty of time to go swimfan on Libba Bray. Luckily she's into the crazy and played along:
Look at me. I'm totally in her personal space. Libba, if you somehow magically happen to read this, I'm sorry. BUT I LOVE YOU!
The rest of Sunday went by in a blur or schmoozing and carrying around heavy things, though I do remember needing to explain to Lane Smith why I needed to him to make a book out to "Lawral's Dad."
Monday I was a bit nicer on my wallet and, having read the author list in advance, brought books from home for people to sign. This is key, people. Because of my lack of preparation the first day, there are now multiple copies of Going Bovine and A Great and Terrible Beauty in my house.
Julie Anne Peters was awesome and sweet. She even laughed off my stalker joke when I showed up at two of her signings in one day.
And Nick Burd was also a doll. We chatted about queer bookstores and he "stole" the Giovanni's Room bookmark that fell out of my book.
All in all, I had a great conference! Hopefully next year I'll actually get to go for the whole weekend and/or to some sessions. :)
1 comment:
Very cool! Glad you had a wonderful time.
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