Ohioana Book Festival & How Awesome It Is To Be Excited To Meet Someone and Then They're Excited to Meet You

This past weekend I volunteered to work at the COSCBWI (Central Ohio SCBWI chapter) table at the Ohioana Book Festival, and no, it's not just because I'm awesome and like to donate my time to good causes. (Although those things are true as well).

I've been blogging for a little over a year, and the course of those twelve months have brought me in contact with some amazing writers and bloggers, many of whom are from Ohio. So I took the liberty of walking right up to them and saying, "Hi, you kind of know me."

I got to meet Tricia Springstubb and Cinda Williams Chima who were both kind enough to give me interviews here on the blog when I had roughly 5 followers. I also met Rebecca Barnhouse, author of THE COMING OF THE DRAGON based on the tale of Beowulf (there's a companion novel out now - PEACEWEAVER) who was awesome and posed for a picture with me which I was really excited about even though I appear to be distracted by something shiny off camera. There were lots of people and things were moving around, so I was like a labrador puppy with OCD who just did crack.

Right next to Rebecca I found Leah Clifford, author of the A TOUCH MORTAL series. Leah is a longtime member of QueryTracker, which makes her even more awesome. And then she took a picture with me, which gives her another +10 Awesome.

And the good times kept rolling, as I walked past a familiar face and thought, "Hey... I know that lady." Checked the name and why yes, yes I did know that lady. But I had to get back to my booth and do my duties so I did, all the while not-so-casually glancing down the way to see if she was still at her table. Duties observed, I skittered my butt over to meet... Julie Anne Lindsay, the blogger extraordinaire behind Musings From the Slushpile, and author of DEATH BY CHOCOLATE and BLOOM. I had a surreal moment when I introduced myself and she started bouncing up and and down because *she* was excited to meet *me,* despite my awkward introduction of, "Hi, we know each other, but you don't know we know each other," before I handed her my card with my name and (much more recognizable) Le Chat Noir avatar. And hooray! She's fun and awesome! And a good dresser!

And while meeting all the YA people who have been so kind and awesome while holding the door open and letting me into their incredible world, I made sure I didn't leave before meeting Donald Ray Pollock, Ohio native and author of the short story collection KNOCKEMSTIFF and THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME. The man is one of my literary heros. And he signed my books... weekend complete.