Visiting with an Author

When I was a practicing librarian and when I was on the state board for librarians, I had the opportunity to meet and greet many authors. One of my fondest memories was meeting Jerry Palotta. He was our guest author at the special Saturday luncheon. Now it has been more moons than I can count since I was in charge of any of those events but the memories are very fond! So it was with great anticipation I left my little town for Elizabeth City, NC( another quaint little town) to meet Mary Alice Monroe. She was on a 30 city tour to greet readers(mostly fans)  of all ages. Elizabeth City was as close as she was going to get to me so I made plans to go. Now my excitement was heightened because I had planned a trip last year to see her but that trip crashed and burned before the special date was close enough to pack my clothes!  We met her in an incredibly cute book store chock full of book lovers. The owner and her staff were straight out of movie, oh, you know the one I am thinking of!  The owner greeted us and treated us like we were entering her very own home. And then she said it! She said Mary Alice is already here, come and see. Oh my gosh, I was so excited I couldn't go over there. Crazy, I know.  I made motions to get my seat and get myself settled and acclimated just to calm down. Then someone said and her sister is here, too. Of course she was. I knew from the MAM Facebook page they were traveling together. The joke from MAM several times was that they were THELMA and LOUISE.  This was so funny to me. And special in many ways. So off I went to strike up a very enjoyable conversation with her. I pulled up a chair and we chatted like old buddies. Finally, I told her that I had been on the advance review team. She shuttled me away saying Mary Alice is going to want to meet you! It was at least two hours before I was able to tell Mary Alice who I was, at least who I was in her world.  Before I tell you about that, I do want to share how royally we were treated by the owner. A lunch handmade by the owner and the staff was delicious and perfect for the setting! I just felt heavenly and if I was a writer like Mary Alice Monroe I would have the right descriptors but I just do not. It was all so gracious and South Carolinian, though clearly we were in North Carolina, almost to Virginia.  Now I am not taking anything away from our Southern Heritage at all but you all know it isn't really the SOUTH! I feel like Pat Conroy might agree as well.  I love Virginia so much, but we missed out on some of the most endearing Southern traditions. Anyway, I shopped, I ate, and then enjoyed Mary Alice's presentation. She read to us, she made us laugh, and she heightened our awareness of some sweet creatures she has researched to include in her books. I had a great time and took a few pictures to punctuate our fun.
Do you remember I mentioned getting back to how I told MAM about me? Each guest received a number in order to reserve our place in line for autographs! I felt like some kind of groupie. Of course, I guess if one drives hours to see an author you ARE a groupie.  I actually missed my spot but a very nice lady told me I could squeeze in and then it was time. The book store owner had MAM seated at this AHHHMAZING ladies' desk. The whole picture was out of a novel or something. :>) So she takes my book and I squat down on the floor a bit so I wasn't towering over her and more eye to eye. As I said she takes my book and looks at me to begin her autograph. I say my name slowly and then I say..... I am an artist. Oh she says. Then can you draw a dolphin? Oh, gosh, how will I make her understand. So I repeat with emphasis, I am an ARTist! Ohhhhh, you are an ARTist! She jumps up and hugs me and is so excited.  In her closed fb page she calls her advanced reading team, HER ARTists.  Now the reason it didn't ring a bell for her right away is because unbeknownst to me, she had asked if anyone was an artist and could draw a dolphin for her on the desk where she was sitting. All authors who visit the bookstore autograph the table for the owner! Too cute, huh? So her mind was on that little dolphin pic she hoped to score and mine was on the ART team! We had a great visit after that and since the bookstore had cleared out, I was able to hang around for a bit and just enjoy her company in a relaxed atmosphere.  So there's my story of another very memorable author visit.  I was one of only two people who had already read her latest book, SUMMER WIND. I felt a wee bit special just like the memories I made that day!

Where Oh Where Have You Been?

That is the million dollar question! I got so caught up with family and work I just forgot about my blog readers! I am so sorry! My goal is to come back to talkin' about library stuff but to expand to book stuff as well. The inspiration for this expansion comes to me from an author visit. Now normally my comments would be about books for students due to the fact I have been working with children in one way or another for over 35 years. I am in a new phase and adult books are a huge part of that new phase so I hope you will continue to hang with me as I discover more about my new found love-grownup books ( had to find a better term than adult reading-sounds a little risqué)!