Day 1

It is currently 11:00. I am exhausted and full of words.

We made it to St. Louis (with a small side trip on the way to meet Grace of fantasy photoshoot fame and climb in her amazing trees.) We drove in circles around the college, found the conference building, drove in more circles, and finally found our dorm. Then we went through a bunch of scanners and lasers and brain readers ... or at least it felt like it. Really, we just sat outside until we got put in touch with the right person in the right building and then they let us in.

So now I am making myself at home in the dorm, which is rather stark. I wish I had some markers to scribble on the walls with. That would make it so much more cheerful.

 

 There is a nice older lady in the fourth room of our suite. I feel sorry for her. 

This is not the nice older lady. This is Kaitlyn, pretending to be Cousin Itt.

Also, Kaitlyn pretending to be a ninja. The black pants really help, don't they? We all decided to sleep in the same room (and wake up at 6:45. Can't wait to see how that's going to turn out.)

Anyway, my bed is the only one not set up, and we are all very slap-happy. You wouldn't want to be here in this explosion of fun right now. You really wouldn't.

Hopes and Dreams

You can't go for months anticipating one of the larger events you've ever been to without a certain degree of imagination of events. At least, I can't.

So here are a few of my goals...hopes...whatever you want to call them.


1. Meet Jeff Gerke, possibly give him a business card and talk about my novel. Maybe get a book signed.

 Apparently my mental image of him is in a suit. And that's me in my costume, although I have no doubt he'll be in costume as well. And far too many stars.


 2. Meet Kathy Tyers, possibly give her a business card and talk about my novel. Maybe get a book signed. Or two.

If you were wondering, that's my best Jennifer Lawrence impression. And those things on Kathy's feet are flip-flops. She's also notably confused because I'll probably be babbling. (I will also probably be wearing shoes, but I was tired of drawing shoes.)

3. Pass out twenty business cards.

 Yeah. That one is pretty self-explanatory.

4. Stay up late.

This one is mostly a lie (I really really hope I can sleep) but will probably end up happening anyway. And those things sticking up past the back of my head? Those are my legs. And I hope we're all fairly accurate - that is, Kaitlyn still has energy enough to tell us a long story at the end of the day, while Meaghan and I watch in enthralled exhaustion.

5. Learn stuff

 This one is probably inevitable too.

See you afterward!
With fear and trembling,
E

Six days...

"Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now..."

Needless to say I'm starting to get frantic. But no need to worry! A certain conference faculty member has assured me that she'll have smelling salts handy. *goes to get a paper bag to breathe into*

May I remind you all that six days to the conference means that you have eight days to submit to my contest? That's right! A little over a week left, and I have a pretty decent pool to pick from. I am super excited.

In that note, I have something to show you...we went to town today and were very pleasantly surprised when the business cards were neither as expensive nor as time-consuming as we expected. We had a hundred of 'em printed for $25 in a couple hours - would have been sooner, except that I had to move the text around a bit so the words didn't get chopped off, and then we were fascinated by all the neat old machines in the print shop. Man.

 So here's the design (left is front, right is back):

And here's the finished product:

I am pumped to start handing these out. But I suppose that'll have to wait at least until tomorrow, because 10:30 Friday night isn't exactly the best time to promote a novel.

E