Saturday, July 28, 2012

Spotlight on... Road tripping to RWA

Road Tripping to RWA

This week, I decided to throw caution to the wind and drive down to Anaheim to attend the RWA Literacy Signing event. I say this like it's a big deal because it's a 5-6 hour drive for me and I decided to do it alone. O.O Alone. Me, in a car, for 6 hours. ALONE.

I made the drive (listened to my first audiobook and LOVED it, btw!), got to walk through Downtown Disney for a bit (because I was there RIDICULOUSLY early), sweated, ate a giant cookie, and got to meet some SUPER COOL people. Both authors and readers.

For those that don't know, I am a HUGE Disney fan. I used to trek to Disneyland twice a year with my sisters so being so close but not going in was a little like torture for me. However, the ginormous author event did help ease the sting of my broken heart. I consoled myself with a pretty groovy picture of the giant hat that sits right outside of the entrance to the Disneyland Hotel, so... there's that. The giant cookie helped, too.

The event itself was massive. A ballroom full of authors. AUTHORS! SO MANY AUTHORS! Since I was on my own, I didn't take any pictures of myself with the authors (SO MANY AUTHORS!) but I did get to put several faces to names and BUY BOOKS!



I had a really fabulous time both talking to the people around me as I waited in line to get in and talking to the authors. I won a gift basket. I showed Nalini Singh a picture of my all Nalini shelf in my bookcase. I didn't even mind the long drive home alone. Overall, it was great fun and I'm so glad I did it!

(And, yes, the Nieceling totally photobombed my middle picture. What a punk!)

10 comments:

  1. You won a gift basket?! You did not tell me this!

    Also, I'm really glad that you went and enjoyed this event, even if it mean I had to be virtually Kelly-less for a day and a half.

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    1. YES! I won a raffle prize. It had coffee and books and crackers and cheese knives in it. Then I had to carry it around for an hour and my fingers got all crampy. Ouch.

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  2. Sounds like a good time & more booty for the shelves.

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  3. That looks awesome!! Though I'm not sure which one to be more envious about ... the books OR the giant cookie! A six-hour car trip by myself sounds daunting. The most I've done alone is about 2.5 hours -- and audiobooks really help! As does good music. I'm usually the idiot singing in their car.

    Thanks for sharing!!!

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    1. I was driving down this dead stretch of highway and there was no good music. I couldn't pick up the station that I normally play my iPod on, either. I'm SO glad I had the audiobook on disc. I would have gone crazy halfway through.

      PS: The cookie was delicious!

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  4. I think the longest I've driven by myself is around 4 hours one way. It's not fun. Especially when you're going through an area that doesn't even get radio reception.

    But yay for the books, authors and liking your first audiobook! :D

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    1. I've never tried a drive that long on my own. It was kind of fun because I had only myself to please. I stopped when I wanted to and listened to my book. It worked.

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    2. I've done an 8 hour drive one way by myself. Drove all the way down to Kansas City. I don't know that it's something I'd want to do by myself again, though. That would have been a good time to have an audiobook...

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    3. I think the audiobook saved me and kept my brain engaged on the drive. Otherwise I would have been bored bored bored.

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