Houston, a chat, then Orlando, then Philly… What a ride!
The Texas Library Association was a fun, two day experience (for me—even though it lasted almost a week), that rivaled Book Expo America just in size and scope… but the best part of all was being surrounded by bibliophiles (BIG SMILE!) Oh, yeah, they take their books seriously—and I met FABULOUS folks who hand-recommend our books and keep the light of reading for pleasure alive.
However, somewhere on the way home from Texas, on the plane (no doubt), I got a real crazy bug (strep throat), that morphed into a full blown yucky thing that almost threatened to have me cancel my trip to The Romantic Times Booklover’s Convention in Orlando, FL. Perish the thought.
Between the TLA convention and RT, I followed doctor’s orders and laid down… well, almost (chuckle), as I was still on deadline and we had an on-line chat scheduled to discuss the last book in the VHL series. So, there was no falling down and not doing those things. My compromise was to sleep a lot during the day, then get up like a vamp and make some tea, to do as much as I could and then crawl back to bed. It was ugly… very ugly, LOL!
But the chat revived me—it was insane! Spoilers abound, we talked about the upcoming Young Adult series that will continue the legacy into the next generation, the graphic novels, the manga, and even touched a little on the newest book in the Crimson Moon Novels series—then we had to cut it off so I could crawl back to bed and get healthy enough for RT as to not infect anyone (smile!)
The nice surprise in all of this was, when I left Philadelphia it was raining, cold, and about forty degrees—when I touched down in Orlando, it was sunny, balmy and about seventy-five with NO humidity. Awesome! And, of course, it was like a high school reunion, where you walk five feet, see someone and scream and hug, then go another five feet and repeat the crazy process. I’m not even going to start naming names, because if I do I’ll accidentally leave someone out and cause drama—because everyone there is a beloved friend. But I must tell on Kimberly Kaye Terry—who always has the craziest funniest panels as the multicultural moderator, no less than Cari does, and that wild fairy godmother of mine, Renee Bernard, who chairs the erotica panels… can I tell you we all cut up until I was wiping my eyes? All in all it was a blast, although just coming off a bout of strep and mad-crazy deadlines, I found I was lacking the stamina to stay up and hang at the pool bars. I promised a couple of times to show up and made the fatal mistake of laying across the bed to regroup for a moment, only to hear the phone ringing the next morning with my “wake up†call! LOL! Yeah… this year the old girl couldn’t hang—my bad, smile.
Unfortunately, I had to also leave on Friday, couldn’t stay for the huge book signing that always takes place on Saturday because I had to keynote for my high school reunion luncheon (The Philadelphia High School for Girls) that Saturday, which mean leaving Friday in enough time to get home without the risk of flight delays. But I did get a chance to sign EXCLUSIVE graphic posters with Anne Elizabeth, who put together a fabulous giveaway… so look for them to be issued in future contests (BIG GRIN)—Anne is a sweet pea! (Funny, smart, pretty, and ENGAGED—so we squealed around in our booth, LOL—her big day is in August, wish her love and happiness!) Then, I did a small private signing on Thursday to try to make up for it… so it was all good. Here’s a couple of pics from the Are interview I did while there, which will air on May 11th at 9:30PM ET, and I’ll also put the link up on the website by then, too. After that date, it will be archived at: What’s Hot In Romance.
(More pics are being sent in via Facebook–Kimberly Kaye Terry has a bunch, as do others 
)
However, coming back home to my high school friends to do a keynote made me more nervous than any interview or appearance I’ve ever done in my entire life. I graduated n 1977—more than thirty years ago… maaaan how time flies, BIG GRIN! So to come back and see a bunch of friends and teachers, as well as many new faces I hadn’t known, was an amazing feeling. I was humbled by the outpouring of live and the award—THANK YOU GHS, especially the class of 221 (and my girls, my Sorority sisters, Jai and Vanessa, who gave me pink roses—bless you.)
That was all the medicine that I needed—that and some sleep, smile, which was why I couldn’t push to another event… Penn relays weekend was this past weekend, too—where all of my college buddies were in town and out partying on Saturday night. But this year, I listened to my body and climbed in bed and watched something ridiculous on the Sci-fi Channel until I dozed off to sleep. A relapse is out of the question.
See, I’m learning!
BIG HUG and Much Love, Leslie!
