I will admit it. I am in a bit of a fog. Yesterday – Houston day – was long and fun. But before I get into that, let me give some details about St. Louis.
If I can remember them.
::checks itinerary to jolt memory::
::slams down coffee::
Right. St. Louis.
Now I remember. I signed books.
My Missouri author schlepper, Elaine, fetched me from the airport.
We dropped my bags at the hotel, got the bad news from the hotel staff (they insisted that to guarantee I’d make the next morning’s flight, I had to catch the 4AM shuttle), and headed out on the road, trying not to think about that shuttle schedule.
We had two quick stock signings and a nice lunch (Elaine knew half the people in the restaurant, I swear), and headed over to The Booksource. The Booksource is a national book wholesaler that sells books to schools and teachers. They sell the kinds of books that kids will actually read.
And they do sell a lot of books. Boxes and boxes of them. I signed everything on this cart while I was there, plus a little more. The Hand went from being petulant and whiny to numb. But I had a wonderful time talking to Cindy and Neil and Cheryl and the other Booksourcians who dropped in. All hail to Kate, who has Georgetown in their office pool. (Proceeds from their pool go to charity, which I think rocks.) And thank you to Cindy, who had extra Powerbars to fuel me.
After Booksource, we drove to Illinois, to Andi Allen’s store, Piece of Mind Books.
A lot of teachers came out to hear me speak.
Including this one, Taree McGee from Columbia. Taree has been teaching SPEAK for six years. Every year she sends me an incredible envelope filled with letters from her students. It was a joy to finally meet her in person. She is one of the best.
Real teens came out, too. Some were there because their smart teachers (Hi, Liz) gave them extra credit for coming to my event.
There were hugs. Thank you, Mary luckyno13 for taking so many photos!
Back in the car, a very quick stop to pick up more coffee, and a dash to St. Louis for the last event of the day, at the public library.
It was a full house! (Great job getting out the word, Left Bank Books and Buder Branch staff!)
There were teens and parents and writers (Hi thatgirlygirl) and plenty of world-changing YA librarians, like these fine ladies.
Got to the hotel at 10:30pm, inhaled a sub, crashed.
The alarm rang at 3:30am. It was not a pretty sound……
thatgirlygirl waves back!
It was a great pleasure meeting you and learning from you, Laurie. I look forward with much excitement to any future opportunities to hear you speak again.
Yeah, you pretty much rocked my socks off! 🙂
t
Me, too, Laurie (I’m the dude with thatgirlygirl). I’m not a writer, but your talk had me mesmerized. Thanks so much for coming here!
Glad the photos turned out… you’re welcome 🙂
It was really great to meet you. Good luck and have fun with the rest of your tour… make sure to come back to St. Louis the next time around!
WHYYY have you not come to NC yet? haha. i’d go to hear you speak even if i didnt’ get extra credit 🙂 as much as i need it.
i’d buy you coffee?
So………
whats the story behind the constant red shirts?
That seems to be the only color you seem to have taken with you on the tour.(???)
Just curious of course….
Yep. i brought a couple pair of black pants and lots of red shirts. It made get dressed easy and reflects the book.
OH! Sure- red and black color (bookcover) scheme-
……and now I know! Thanks!
Really..
her daughter dresses her very well.
it makes up for all of those years that my mother put me in bright pink turtlenecks and jeans that were to short. Thankfully, I have made it past those terrible times and I am now able to dispense fashion advice to the needy (sometimes very needy) people who call me from the middle of the mall crying.