I'm back, part two

After finishing the event in Champaign, we headed out to dinner (Monical's pizza, which you cannot get here in Chicago, a darn shame too! It's the best pizza, with crust so thin and crispy it could probably hurt you if you didn't chew it properly...) with family friends. After dinner, which was actually probably more like linner or dunch, given that it was between the two meals, (total sidenote: I use dinner and supper interchangeably, but I vaguely recall a conversation in college where this is not the case with everyone -- what do you guys say?), we headed over to Bloomington for my second event. My brother and Mom came to help me set up. This time, I was tucked away in the literary fiction nook, which was kind of cool. I loved being surrounded by books that I've read (their definition of literary fiction is a little looser than most, I'd say, as I'd actually read a number of the books near me and I don't really care for literary fiction usually. But Maeve Binchy, one of my favorite authors, was shelved there. Her books...not her, personally. Though that would be interesting, wouldn't it?). I've told people it was like being surrounded by old friends -- that's usually how I think of books that I've already read and enjoyed. Huge thanks to Josh, one of the managers, who helped make sure I was set up properly, brought me water and gave me chocolate!!!

At this point, having gained a little confidence from my earlier signing, I started trying to talk to people as they walked by. Toward the end of the evening, I saw a young woman with LKH's latest book and nearly knocked my chair over to tell her that LKH's book was excellent and if she liked LKH, perhaps she would like The Silver Spoon, also a strong first-person heroine. I've never been so bold in my whole life. But I'm really glad I was this time. Marissa, the young woman, was superbly nice and we had a great conversation about writing later in the evening (If you're reading this...Hi Marissa!)

I packed everything up and left Borders around 10:15. Another cool thing about Borders? They let me stay however long I wanted. I'm sure that would vary depending on the store and the events scheduled but everywhere I went this weekend, I was so impressed by their flexibilitya and general willingness to help. : )

On Sunday, after church, we opened birthday presents. I think my sister was excited by one of the presents I brought for her. A copy of Incubus Dreams by LKH, signed by her and wishing my sister a happy birthday. I got another season of Stargate, yea!!!, my favorite lotion, BN bookstore gift certificates and a couple of really cute porch decorations. Almost immediately afterward, it was time to get changed and head off to my final stop of my tour, the Borders in Peoria.

But alas, that will have to wait until tomorrow. I've been typing with my eyes closed, no kidding, for about the last five minutes. I used to do this a lot when I was writing at night. I'm not bad at it, but thank goodness for spell check is all I have to say.

Talk to you tomorrow!