With zero prior warning I crashed the Coastal Magic Conference and they did not kick me out. On the contrary; Jennifer and her ladies were very welcoming, and helped me sneak up on Shiloh, and let me sit with her for their charity booksigning with no fuss whatsoever.
Before I shanghaied Shi I met up with wonderful steampunk jewelry-maker Leslie from Aunt Matilda's Jewelry Box to do some personal shopping. While I was depriving her of inventory I bought another of Kit's pendants to give away to one of my readers (this week ~ stayed tuned to the blog for details.)
I met and chatted with the lovely and charming USA Today bestselling author Carrie Ann Ryan, who can be described by many other words; the next that comes to my mind should be awesome as she gave me this gorgeous tote to hold all the books I bought. Her assistant Charity was so sweet and helpful, too, and I think somehow moved at the speed of light.Author Gini Koch may have as many pseudonyms as me and was giving away e-book freebies, which was way cool (she is a rather amazing powerhouse when it comes to presentation, too; she should be teaching classes in how to promote your books in person.)
Author Sarah M. Ross was a delight to talk to and quite gorgeous in person; among other things she has that perfect hair I will never attain (sigh.)
Author James R. Tuck is a handsome devil with a wonderful voice and a neat sense of humor, too; I think every gal at the conference was falling in love with him.
I did not get around to all the tables, but I bought books from every one I visited, so it was probably good for the bank account that I didn't make it around the room.
Some people asked me and Shiloh to pose for pics and we did for two, I think; Tori from Smexy Books has one of them. Please note if you happen to see it that I am not dead, a man, or Stephen Leigh.
After the booksigning I dragged Shiloh out to dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, where I made a complete pig of myself over the delicious spicy fish and rice dish I ordered. We also talked shop, families, ordnance, explosives and plotted the overthrow of the online writing community. Kidding. We really didn't talk shop that much.
After many, many years of being cyber colleagues and blog pals I finally met Shiloh Walker, who is just as wonderful in person as she is online. Of all the people I've wanted to meet in the biz, she was the one I drove 500 miles (much of that in the pouring rain) to see, which should give you some idea of how much I care for her.
I went over to Shiloh's site to look her up. It seems she feels the same way about you.
ReplyDelete(Had to admit that I was looking for your name. After she ran down the list and it wasn't on it, I had to fear for you a little. Silly me...)
http://www.shilohwalker.com/website/?doing_wp_cron=1392055430.5707499980926513671875
I have a little fangirl crush on Shiloh because her books rock, so I'm a teeny bit jealous.
ReplyDeleteYou didn't tell them how I screamed. Or didn't believe it was you. Or how I grabbed you and hugged you.
ReplyDeleteI'm still on cloud 9. Maybe cloud 99.
But pics of me don't often get circulated. I bribe and blackmail people. See? I'm almost as bad as you.
I just loved reading about Shiloh's reaction upon meeting you! Priceless. I hope to meet you as well someday. I adore your writing, and you are a gem of a hostess when stopping by my blog. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story. I'm jealous of both of you! You know, most of the time I love living in the UK, but when I hear of things like this and know I'll never get to attend them, I get a little miffed. That pond is awfully big and very expensive to cross. Y'all also have (compared to us) really great & cheap (to us) fabric stores & online shops that I could spend £s at but can't afford the shipping or customs charges to get it here. Ah well one day you might all come over here and surprise us.
ReplyDeleteI left my comment yesterday then scooted over to Aunt Matilda's and spent the next hour absorbed in the most gorgeous jewellery I've seen in ages. I adored the little cottage basket pendant, the corsage brooch and a fantastic red gothic cross that I'd love to own. I'm sure my boss wondered at my concentration on the screen! Thanks for the link, she is a really talented lady.
DeletePlaying catch-up this week. Your last paragraph made me cry! How amazing is that and how lucky you both are. Shiloh was less than two miles from me last year and my dumb ailment kept me from going to meet her. I'm still sad about that. Maybe next time. And if I ever get to Florida... :)
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