What a great month this has been so far.
The first part of March kicked off with a day at Christopher Newport University’s Writers’ Conference. I was there mostly on official business (namely, researching for my day job which includes writing a weekly column about the writing community), but I had purchased table space to sell books.
I spent a chunk of time wandering around the other tables, chatting with local authors whom I’d met through my other job, mostly via email. It was wonderful to place names with faces, and to speak in real time about writing and craft and all those other topics that writers gravitate toward.
I hadn’t intended to sit in on the luncheon keynote address by Sharyn McCrumb, but one of the other writers talked me into it. So I left my poor son (who attends these things with me so he can help me with the blasted credit card payment thingy) sitting there by his lonesome, and off I went.
McCrumb is charming and so southern in a rebellious I-don’t-give-a-damn way, at first I sat rapt by lyrical cadence of her accent. (I’m a sucker for accents and especially southern accents — coming from the north as I do.) After a few minutes though, she sucked me into her storytelling, which was about telling true stories in a fictional vehicles. Wonderful presentation.
Later this month I’ll be at the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville. I have no official capacity there, other than helping friends with “Love Fest” — a day of romance panels featuring wonderful authors like my friends Tina Glasneck, Madeline Iva, Nancy Naigle, Terri Osburn, Mollie Cox Bryan, Laurin Wittig and…I know I’ve forgotten a few. You can check out the list here, and if you’re in the area, think about stopping by. I’d love to meet and chat about book, romance…and anything else.
Happy reading, all!