I already posted the short version of my ALA Midwinter daytrip, but here are a few more highlights (and pictures!):

As I was walking from South Station along Summer Street I noticed two women ahead of me and wondered if it was just my imagination that they seemed to be giving off a cool, book-loving vibe. It turned out they were in fact librarians on the way to the convention, and they graciously consented to let me follow them to registration (otherwise I might still be wandering as that place was huge). Thank you Anna and Margaret! I hope you had a great convention!

More synchronicity cropped up as I headed for the entrance to the exhibits. I spotted a familiar yellow coat and recognized Susann, a lovely fellow Betsy-Tacy fan I met in NYC in December! Susann introduced me to another B-T fan and librarian, the delightful Lizz. We went in and converged on the Charlesbridge booth to get signed ARCs of BAMBOO PEOPLE by author Mitali Perkins, who is also a B-T fan (do you sense a theme here?) and is in fact writing the forward to the new reissue of EMILY OF DEEP VALLEY (yay, Mitali!). Here they all are:

After that I hooked up with some of my fellow debs, Erin Dionne and Megan Frazer, to check out the exhibits. We ran into another fellow deb, Kate Messner, who was on a scavenger hunt for book photos with her adorable daughter.

I had fun meeting wonderful fellow book-lovers, but I will admit I also had a lot of fun just wandering around ogling the rows and rows and rows of BOOKS:

There’s THE TOTAL TRAGEDY OF A GIRL NAMED HAMLET by Erin, and another deb book, Shani Petroff’s BEDEVILED!

And here’s SHADOW by Jenny Moss:

Lots of great ARCs on display at the HarperCollins book, including new Diana Wynne Jones (eee!), the third Magic Thief book by Sarah Prineas, and MISTWOOD by fellow Inkie Leah Cypess:

I joined forces with another rabid DWJ fan (Hi Madison!) to ask about ARCs, and woohoo, they had some left!

I also stopped in at the Macmillan booth and saw these two gorgeous covers on display: Lisa Mantchev’s EYES LIKE STARS and PERCHANCE TO DREAM. Go Bertie! Go Fairies! Go Lisa!

It was also a big thrill to see ARCs of my own forthcoming release, THE MAGICAL MISADVENTURES OF PRUNELLA BOGTHISTLE on display. A big thank you to the Macmillan folks working the booth!

Sadly, around this time my camera batteries died, so I couldn’t document my encounters with all the other wonderful people I met. Fortunately fellow Inkies Anna Staniszewski and Nandini Bajpai posted recaps of our lovely Enchanted Inkpot Lunch at Legal Test Kitchen (fantastic food! Mmm, vegetable pad thai…)

One of the big events of the day was the Tweetup organized by the unstoppable Mitali Perkins and Deborah Sloan. I’ll admit I was kind of overwhelmed when I walked up to the bar and saw the huge crowds. Especially when I started noticing all the famous bloggers, respected literary agents and award-winning authors. Yikes! But I plunged in and ended up having a very fun time. And if I hadn’t gone, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to sample one of Grace Lin’s delicious red velvet cupcakes, so that I can now proudly claim to have eaten cupcakes baked by a Newbery Honor winning author!

I also enjoyed finally meeting author Ann Haywood Leal, my editor-sibling (we both work with the extraordinary Reka Simonsen at Holt). Ann was lovely and sweet and also a Betsy-Tacy fan (we’re everywhere!).

Last but not least, I wound down with a delicious (if abbreviated) dinner at Channel Cafe (corn gnocchi! Nomnomnom!) in the company of a warm and wonderful bunch of Maud Hart Lovelace fans. I wished I could have stayed longer, and I look forward to hopefully attending some other NE events this year. Big thanks to Constance for setting that up, and for hanging out with me during part of the afternoon at the convention.

But alas the time was fast approaching when I, like Cinderella’s carriage, would turn back into a pumpkin (or rather, an introvert early bird up past her bedtime). So I had to run off to catch my bus, which whisked me back to Maine where my wonderful husband welcomed me home with a bouquet of roses. All-in-all a fabulous day!

Tags: events