ALA 2010, pt. 2

Okay, I better type this before I completely forget everything. I already realized things had slipped my mind, like talking to Nancy Werlin and her husband about why I skipped college, and meeting Tricia Springstubb, a librarian-turned-writer with an upcoming MG called What Happened on Fox Street that sounds adorable. I thought it was cool to meet a librarian-turned-writer because I met many young librarians who really wanted to be writers but can't find the time at this point. Take heart, busy young librarians! You can do it later!!

Sunday
--Sunday was Maggie Stiefvater day! It was also a day I skipped breakfast for some reason! Maggie arrived around 11-something, and we exchanged a series of texts much like this (but not quite like this because my texts are much shorter):
Me: are you here yet?
Maggie: random house
Me: That's where I am too!
*looks all over crowded Random House booth and sees no Maggie*
Me: I'm standing at the entrance of Random House
*waits*
*thinks maybe I should go stand at Bloomsbury so at least I can talk to people I know while I stand there like a dork*
Maggie: Now I'm at Flux
Me: STAY WHERE YOU ARE
I did indeed find Maggie at Flux and there was some roaming, some chatting with a dapper Flux employee (publicist I think?), a hello to David Leviathan, and an encounter with the ever-delightful Natalie Standiford.
--Maggie left all too soon, so I walked her back to her car, which was a long hot walk into a neighborhood where people appeared to be going clubbing at 3 o' clock on a Sunday afternoon. They had a red carpet and club wear and everything. Maggie drove me back to the convention center, which took about 20 minutes despite being maybe 5 blocks because we couldn't find streets going the right way.



--Wandered the con floor a bit more, despite a state of starvation. At some point I was hanging out with Cynthea Liu and Tammi Sauer, but maybe that was Saturday. IT'S ALL A BLUR! I meant to go to Amy and Holly's signings but instead got caught up talking to Mette Ivie Harrison--I'm a big fan of her books and blog and was so happy I came across her!--Harmony of Harmony Book Reviews, and some other bloggers. Well, Amy and Holly both sold out so clearly they were all right without me. ;)
--Sat with Jessica Shea for awhile talking about our books and recurring themes and just the sort of conversation I love. It was nice to slip away from ALA with just one person and have a really good talk.
--Dinner at Busboys and Poets with Jessica, Jennifer Hubbard, Shari Maurer, Hannah Moskowitz and her dad. Nice time, once we got our drinks--we had to sit outside and it was both hot and threatening rain. Luckily the latter never happened.
--Newbery/Caldecott dinner. I didn't pay for the fancy dinner part of course, but I sat in the free seats to watch the speeches. Quite the shindig!! Laurie Halse Anderson walked by at one point and complimented my Converse. =D Rebecca Stead's speech was just lovely and the energy in the room as the night went on was so powerful and so GOOD I almost did cry.

Monday
--Monday was, I'll admit, a slog. I was totally tired and kept zoning out in the middle of a conversation. I vowed to eat lunch before I had to fly out, but I ended up only having time to scarf down some french fries with Jessica. I also vowed to stop picking up ARCs that day, but I still ended up grabbing three more. I loitered around the Chronicle booth talking to Melissa Manlove for awhile, who was still managing to give posters away in a chipper voice on Monday.
--I lugged my bags to Amy's car. I had three bags full of ARCs at this point and was not sure I could get them all home, but somehow they pretty much all fit in my suitcase. Wonder of wonders!! I didn't know if I could LIFT this bag, and was terrified of being caught on the plane with my too-heavy carryon, but I managed to heft it into the overhead compartment and make it look easy! (Okay, maybe not make it look easy. But it got up there.)
--The plane took off, and just as it went in the air, the plane made a big rollercoaster dip. I have never been on a plane that did this before...and while it probably only lasted for 10 seconds or something, I never relaxed again. I spent the whole flight white-knuckled, sweaty and close to tears, clutching Adventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl and sort of pretending to read it, accepting my pretzels more as an excuse for human contact with a calm flight attendant than because of any ability to eat.
--I really need to move somewhere where I can take more trains.



The end!

**Photos: Me and Harmony of Harmony Book Reviews, and me (in the back!) on Saturday with Holly Cupala (left), Nancy Werlin (right), and two other nice women whose names escape me in the middle.