Writers tend to be super nice people, published, not published. It's a solitary pursuit, so we make up for it by having groups. I happen to love many types of fiction (and nonfiction) so I belong to lots of groups. Groups have conferences. I now belong happily to RWA, FRW, HWA, MWA, ITW and NINC, and something made me decide this year that I had to go to them all. Except that two of them are on the same weekend, and I registered for both.
They aren't even taking place in the same time zone.
But I am going to both.
I have actually never been to either before. I don't want to give up either. So I an going to both. Ninc has some friends going I really want to see, so I'll head to New York for the first few days. I also have a book coming out that week that takes place in New York, so NYC is a great place to be. But a chance to go to the World Horror Convention, too? No way to resist. I just wish it was easier to get from NYC to Salt Lake City. No matter, I can't wait for either. Yes, I can. There is another college trip first, this one to New Orleans. I love New Orleans, so there's no hardship in going there. And I'm going back near New Orleans to Houma for the Jubilee Jambalaya--Molly Bolden is a key organizer for it, and Molly and Kaye run what is seriously one of the most incredible independent bookstores in the country.
I particularly love Molly's take on people in a bookstore. First off, to know her is to love her. She says it the way it is. I was talking about the fact that it would drive me mad in a Borders or Barnes and Nobles, the way people leave books and magazines all over the table. Employees there will tell you they would rather put the merchandise back themselves, it's always mis-shelved if they don't. But when Molly sees someone just sticking a book back anywhere, it's her shop--she can stop them. So she'll tell someone, "Excuse me, I know you can read, you were just reading that book, and therefore, you know that A comes before B, and B comes before C!" She is amazing. An author goes to an event at her store, not just a signing. A reader will find someone who knows books backwards and forwards. It's not just a store, it's a focal community point. Super special, all the way.
This Saturday, there's another audition for Chynna. And I'm doing the walk for the humane society with Bryee, Nikki, and Toto. A dog social. The weekend after, Sleuthfest. Deerfield Beach, at the Hilton--with amazing mystery writers. People I admire tremendously.
I just keep losing things when I pack. Annoying.
But an easy trade for a brush with some of the talent that is out there.
Tonight, Bryee are I are with Stuart. He just had surgery. He's pretty amazing himself, just out of the hospital, walking, talking, and really fine. But T just left for a long planned trip, and since Stuart had two more surgeries to go, it's good that she got away. I feel like a cheat; she took such good care of me when I needed it, and he's just too easy to take care of! Oh, well, back to pretending that I'm a halfway decent nurse.
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