I've already talked about the literacy signing, so this will be a brief post.
Maggie Osborne was on my left and she is the kindest, most gracious woman! She was so sweet and supportive, and in true writer style, was honestly surprised that so many people stopped to buy her book.
On my right, was Robin Owens. Robin and I have sat next or near to each other before and she showed me the cover for her next Luna book--February I think. It's a beautiful cover, very mystical and serene. She should do really well with it.
I didn't have much of a chance to talk to anyone, though, once the doors opened. As I had walked into the Hilton Pavilion about 25 minutes before the signing started, the people were lined up forever to get in, and I heard the line was even longer when other authors walked past. There was plenty of room between tables this year which was fab since last year the chairs were nearly back to back and there was no room to move. There was also enough space between writers to enable all of us to put our stuff out.
At first, it started off really slowly for me. I had people come over to tell me how much they loved The Power of Two, but it didn't look as if I was going to sell a book. Then someone bought one and it was a steady stream after that. I spent most of my time standing to talk to people because it was difficult to hear while sitting down, and when they started talking over the loud speaker, it was impossible to hear anyone at all--standing or sitting.
I met a few people I'd only corresponded with over email and that was cool, but the best part truly was all the people who came over to tell me how much they loved TPOT. I'd received less feedback on that book than on Ravyn's Flight so I wasn't sure how well people liked it. The event made me feel much better, so thank you everyone who took a minute to tell me they enjoyed my book!
By the time the signing ended, I was exhausted--pretending to be an extrovert is difficult for me--and I was sore. I ran into a couple of friends who were part of one of the groups I thought I was supposed to meet, but neither of them knew anything about it, so I crossed that group off my list. Headed for another party I was supposed to go to. That was in a room at the very end of a very, very, very long hallway. I thought I was going to have to stop and rest before I reached it. Gah! I'm afraid I wasn't the life of the party. Too tired at that point.
There was a third group I was supposed to meet at the steak house, so after hobbling my way back down along the endless corridor to the elevators, I went looking for them. The steak house was closed, though. I checked out the bar, looking for them, but didn't spot anyone and I was too tired to look any further. I headed up to the room and went to bed.
