Post-TLA

I got back from The Texas Library Association (TLA) meeting in Dallas last night. It was a WOW experience for me. I got to talk about my book to strangers in a strange city. While the turnout out to the Cultural Diversity Panel was low - don't ask - we were invited back for next year's conference in Houston. So, whether it was guilt that motivated the organizers (we were scheduled at the same time as a couple of big name authors) or whether we actually were interesting - the thrill is that we get to do it all over again in 2009.

The best part of the trip was meeting my wonderful co-writers in person. In this photo, from left to right we have, the amazing Stacy Nyikos (who took the initiative and got us to Dallas), the spunky Bev Patt (now fearlessly co-leading the emerging 2k9 class), our superwoman publisher, Miriam Hees (whom we love dearly because she believes in us), the experienced Lila Guzman (with several books out about Latino history), the accomplished, bubbly seer, Linda Joy Singleton (with how many books out?) and me - still looking nervous - even though I should be relieved because ... not only did we survive, we can mark Houston, TLA, 2009 on our calendar.

More pictures to come.

p.s. In the photo, please note the green ribbons attached to our conference badges. Those ribbons identified us as 'speakers' and we wore them with pride.

German weather poem

April, April kann machen was er will.
Bald Regen und bald Sonnenschein.
Bald ist die Luft voll Schnee.

Translation:
April, April can do what he wants.
First rain, then sunshine
Then the air is filled with snow.

Just had to share that German wisdom. I'd welcome the "April showers brings May flowers" weather since it implies WARMTH.

Enough about weather - I'm leaving for Texas next Saturday where I'm sure it'll be warm, sunny and best of all, raining books! (I mean, it's a library convention, right?)

I'm traveling down there by bus and look forward to viewing the great US of A through bus windows. It's all about the journey - not the destination.

TLA preparation

I've been working on my TLA (Texas Library Association) panel presentation. It's been fun re-visiting my work with a cultural diverse angle to it - rather than the usual historical one. It's also been a good exercise to assemble relevant literature into one concise collection. I've been collecting books on the Soviet times under Stalin for years now. I love my books.

When I look at the clutter of my life - I could probably get rid of most of it. I'd just keep the books and my rocks (okay, and those masterpieces my kids created).

I'm nervous and excited about TLA. I mean, I'm actually getting to go way down to Texas to talk about MY book. And I get to meet and mingle with real authors. It's going to be an adventure, that's for sure. My oldest daughter is traveling with me and we are going by bus (her idea) so that we see can actually see all the USA we pass - a 36 hour trip.