I’m back from Venice. Okay, I didn’t really go to Venice, I went to San Antonio. But I felt like I was in Venice. This is the convention center:
This is where I stayed:
And this is the Alamo (because you can’t go to San Antonio without seeing the Alamo):
Just about everywhere I went, I walked along this beautiful riverwalk to get there.
And unfortunately, I didn’t walk much because it rained most of the time I was in San Antonio, which apparently is very unusual….I lost count of how many people apologized to me for the weather, like it was THEIR fault!
But anyway…T.L.A. was FABULOUS! It felt much more like a national ALA or IRA to me than a state library convention. And either I’m getting much better at schmoozing or people in Texas are unusually friendly. (I think people in Texas are unusually friendly.)
The highlights:
1. I actually talked to people at the cocktail party. In fact, I talked to people virtually the whole time I was there. One of the people I talked to was Rick Riordan’s mom. I didn’t actually meet the man himself, but I had a nice chat with his mom.
2. Dinner with my Minnesota friend, Laura, at the most eclectic Italian restaurant on the planet. (Hey, Laura…if you’re reading this, I found out how deep the water is – 4-5 feet where we were most of the time, but 20 feet down by the restaurant! And no, I didn’t find out through an up close and personal experience…a local told me!)
3. Meeting other authors who publish with the same houses I do. There’s sort of an instant kinship between people who share editors/publishing houses etc.
4. Meeting other authors who DON’T publish with the same houses I do.
5. A chance meeting with a librarian who goes to Uganda for three weeks every summer to build libraries. Sometimes she brings authors with her. She said to me, “you wanna come sometime?” I said, “YES!!!!” I wonder how serious her invitation was? I wonder if she realizes I was serious when I said yes?
6. Hanging out with the people from my publishing houses.
7. The Bluebonnet awards luncheon (again, it was like the Newbery award dinner at ALA…there were at least 1,000 people there!). I chatted with a really cool librarian who built nukes in a previous life…not that I have ANY desire to build nukes whatsoever, but I enjoyed her stories! Help Me, Mr. Mutt (which is one of my all-time favorite picture books!) by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel won the Bluebonnet award. KIDS presented the award (and those kids were wonderful, btw…really poised and articulate!)…and I loved Janet and Susan’s presentation.
8. Dinner with the Albert Whitman people and several librarians. (I LOVE the fact that my publisher sets up these dinners)
9. The Friday night storytelling session…Eric Kimmel told stories he “can’t tell in schools” (about heaven and hell).
10. Signing…signing…signing. I signed A LOT of books at TLA. In fact, on Saturday, I just wandered back to the Albert Whitman booth to let them know I’d met up with some friends of friends who invited me to join them for lunch…and I ended up sitting down for about 45 minutes and signed MORE books.
11. Galleys!!! I didn’t have a lot of time to wander the booths at TLA, but I still managed to pick up a few galleys, including April Henry’s Girl, Stolen, which I’m looking forward to!
12. I came home with more business cards and e-mail addresses than I ever have from anywhere else (like I said, people were VERY friendly at TLA!)…and 46 people picked up my brochure, so maybe I’ll have a return trip to Texas one of these days?
So I still have a couple galleys of Buddy #1 left. And since I made you all look at some of my travel pictures (is there anything worse than someone else’s travel pictures?), I thought I’d do a drawing here on my blog for one of my remaining galleys. If you’d like to have a chance to win one, leave a comment before Thursday. I’ll gather up all the names, put them in a hat and let my teenager draw one. I’ll announce the winner here.
I’d love to read it, Dori. Put me into the drawing, if you would. 🙂
We should have our picture taken with our dog books! Looking forward to seeing you this weekend!
Can friends enter to win too?
Maggie
Galley drawing
Please put my name in the hat for the Buddy #1 galley drawing.
I enjoyed the travel pictures – really. I lived in San Antonio in a previous lifetime – Air Force basic training in 1983.
Happy Writing,
Patricia Miller
pmitchmom1 at yahoo dot com
Re: Galley drawing
I knew about the Air Force, but not the San Antonio part. You would’ve enjoyed the librarian I sat next to at the Bluebonnet luncheon (the one who built nukes).
Will I see you this weekend?
Your getting better at schmoozing and Texas having extra-friendly people are not mutually exclusive, you know! By virtue of its size, Texas is one of the big influences on the library and school markets, which is why publishers are willing to send us, not only authors of the stature of Kathleen and Suzanne Collins, but sometimes editors. I go to TLA and ALA as often as they’re in town, and from the exhibit floor it’s hard to tell the difference in size.
I’m sorry Kathleen, Christine, and I spent so much time gossiping about people you didn’t know at lunch! You seemed really nice and interesting when we let you get a word in edgewise. I look forward to reading your book and have got it in the priority area (but I’ve got to get some books back to the library first; you know how that goes). Come back when you can; and let me know you’re coming and I’ll make myself available as a native guide.
You were an awesome guide! If you ever get to Iowa, I’ll show you around, too.
Of course friends can enter to win, too! I think it’s mostly friends who read my blog. But uh…don’t you already have a copy of the book?
Hi Dori,
Could you put my name in the hat for the galley? If I win, I’d like to give it to my sister–the one with the dogs we talked about yesterday.
Thanks so much. I loved reading about your dogs.
Colleen Kelley
Thanks, Colleen! Will do…
Put my name in, I just returned a copy of the book to the library. Simply adorable!
Thanks! I’ll put your name in…
Yes I have a copy, but I could give it to my niece. I commented twice. Does that mean I get two chances to win?
M.
No! 🙂
sounds like an amazing time 🙂
It was…thanks!
Dori! Haven’t checked your blog in a while…sounds like TLA was great! I enjoyed your Texas “round up!” And I want to be eligible to win a Buddy book! Oh! And I heard the Stevens sisters speak together once–laughed and learned so much. Can’t wait to see you this weekend, you traveler you (including a possible jaunt to Uganda? I bet she was serious!)
hugs,
kellye
I heard Janet once years ago…she was either in CR or IC. But I hadn’t heard the two of them together before. What a riot!
Can’t wait to see you either!!!
Drawing
Hi Dori,
I’d love to have a chance to win. Actually my husband and I did the same San Antonio trip a year ago. It was hot and not raining. I loved it. Even though the Alamo is a must and one goes just because, I enjoyed it anyway. I really did.
Nina
ninabiz@comcast.net
Re: Drawing
I saw the Alamo when I was 8…I remember I thought it was boring then. I had hoped to do the audio tour this time, but it didn’t work out.
Looking forward to seeing you this weekend!
Hi Dori,
Loved reading about your trip to TLA and possible future trips to Africa!!! Would love to win your book, count me in the drawing. See you next weekend!
Best,
Linda
http://www.lindaegenes.com
P.S. In my usual internet confusion, I thought I was signing up just to make comments, but ended up with a livejournal BLOG, which will forever remain empty, I’m afraid.
Maybe you’ll think about using it on YOUR travels? Yours are far more interesting than mine are!
Looking forward to seeing you this weekend!
Please put me in your drawing. -Kate
Will do…see you soon.
Glad your Texas trip was great, Dori! I had a blast going out to dinner–belly dancer, live music, ah–interesting decor. What could be more fun? It was so good to catch up. Huh. So that water is definitely deep enough to drown in. I’m just thinking they must have drunk people falling in all the time in the summer! I mean, I hope not, but…
And I loved the first Buddy Files book! So wonderful:>)
It WAS good to catch up! I asked how often people ended up in the water…I was told, “365 days a year.” I heard stories of people taking pictures and backing up into the water (I could see myself doing that)…and dramatic rescues of children.