Image courtesy Yale Center for British Art
After a whirlwind journey—well, not exactly, as the traffic on the return trip from NYC gave the term “snail’s pace” new and painful meaning—I’m back at my laptop, staring into space. But before sinking into the world of make-believe, this author has some gratitude to send to all who made my time at Book Expo America so enjoyable and inspiring.
Let’s start with the Avon Tea.
Huge thanks and hugs to the librarians, Avon Addicts, and Avon team of professionals who made our tea at Café Grind so much fun, as well as delicious. A curtsey each to moderators Sarah MacLean (awesome author) and Alene Moroni (awesome librarian) for making me feel like a queen and for keeping the talk going so entertainingly and enlighteningly. Curtseys to all the invitees for the warm welcome and the incredible moral support.
Then it was on to the party.
My publisher HarperCollins made a celebration, where I got to mix and and mingle with high powered people, got to meet Jeaniene Frost, had a fangirl moment with Gail Sheehy, gawked at all the nice shoes and cocktail dresses, and tried not to look stupid in photographs.
Next day, following a delicious breakfast with my editor and agent, came the two signings at the Javits Center.
I write for a living yet it’s hard to express how honored I felt as one after another book lover said nice things about my stories. Thank you, everybody—my loyal readers, the readers who didn’t know my work but are willing to give it a try, my beautiful librarians (yes, the evil ones wearing the horns, too), reviewers, bloggers—for making me feel like royalty. And kudos again to the HarperCollins team for looking after their authors so kindly and making everything go so smoothly.
Now I’m home, the head swelling has gone down, and I have to write.