Back from the Romantic Times Convention in New Orleans this past weekend, which was wonderful, amazing, inspiring, exhausting, exhilarating and just incredible. I got to spend quality time with so many friends and make new ones. Business meetings should always be conducted over beignets. Always. I hope to post more pics, etc. on this tomorrow, but here’s a taste for today:
So many things today! First, as you probably know by now, Amy Christine Parker and I are Tuesday’s YA Rebels. Today we’re up with an ambush…er, interview…of YA writer Heather Burch, author of the Halflings series for Zondervan/HarperCollins.
Next, I promised you all a write-up and some pics from this past weekend’s Necronomicon, so there they are:
1st panel of the con on Creating Fantasy Worlds with Christopher Paolini, Me, Kathy Napier, Aria Kane and E. Rose Sabin
Tardis!
Little Sister and The Walking Dude.
Ty with the one of the Kids & Canine dogs (so cute)!
J.A. Souders, Aria Kane and Justin.
Great Steampunk costumes…Leadded Zepplin
Me and William Hatfield.
My boy and me
My boy and his dad
For a quick write-up: Necronomicon had a variety of intriguing programming and wonderful guests, including Christopher Paolini, Timothy Zahn, Richard Lee Byers, Pamela LaBud, Aria Kane and my new friends K.L. Napier and William Hatfield. Do I wish they’d tapped into more of the local writing talent, like the great YA authors who were part of the Sunshine Tour earlier this year and who are now part of Hot YA Reads, yes, and I’m going to suggest some names for next year, but the conference was really well run and everyone was wonderful. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: if the Necronomicon people and the Tampa Bay ComicCon people got together on programming, it could be the start of something really big. Also, I love that every year Necronomicon partners with a charity, like Kids & Canines, which “works with at-risk teens, teaching them how to train assistance dogs. The bond between student and dog help these at-risk youths succeed . . . and then the dogs go on to have productive working lives, providing independence to individuals with disabilities.” A really great organization.
Also, I participated in this year’s “Necronomicon’s Got Talent”. I won, even though I didn’t, because I overcame my lifelong fear of signing in front of people, and while I wasn’t perfect, I didn’t come down with my psychosomatic laryngitis or anything of the sort. I tremble even as I type this, but if you’d like to see how I did, here’s the video my husband took standing way in the back of the room. I’m so tiny, you can’t even see me shaking!
In other news, The Crossroads Blog Tour continues. Today, P.J. Hoover, Carrie Harris, Patrice Lyle and I are over at Jennzah.dot.net, where we play Animal, Vegetable or Mineral. Follow the tour for a chance to win a Kindle pre-loaded with books from many of the tour’s participating authors. Here’s our schedule for the rest of the week, though you don’t have to wait to check out these other blogs, who are currently hosting other wonderful Crossroaders:
