Today I have to go down to the Minneapolis Convention Center and sign books for a librarians' function. I love librarians. Some of my fondest memories are the hours I wiled away at the library and I even wanted to work in the county library as a part time job while I was in high school. I didn't, but I did get hired for a few days to help them rearrange all the books.
Why the "gah" in the title then? I'm horribly, painfully shy. Meeting strangers is torturous for me. And it gets better--I can't talk and sign books at the same time. If I try, I misspell something (and that something could possibly be my own name, that's how much I can't multi-task at signings). Intelligent chit chat? That's completely beyond me. I've been utterly dreading this event for three weeks.
So why did I volunteer? Good question. It seemed like a good idea back at the beginning of January when the opportunity was mentioned. Of course that was nearly 4 months out and now I wish with all my might that I'd passed it up. It's bad when I'm quoting Nietzsche to myself: "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger."
If you're one of the librarians I meet at the Romance Writers of America booth, I apologize in advance for being such an idiot in these types of situations.
The only bright spot is that conventions mean name tags so I shouldn't have to ask someone to spell "Ann" three times because I'm too rattled to retain information. I can just look up and see her badge and go, ah, yeah, that's right. Ann. :-)
Send some good vibes my direction. I need them.
