Designed by Amber of Shelf Notes

One of today’s Armchair BEA topics focuses on interacting with authors:

“Let’s talk interacting with authors IRL (in real life) or online. This is your opportunity to talk about your favorite author readings that you have attended. Or, you can feature your favorite author fan moment (i.e., an author sent you a tweet or commented on your blog). Maybe you even want to share how your interactions have changed since becoming a blogger or share your own tips that you have learned along the way when interacting with authors as a blogger.”

I am fortunate to live in Washington, D.C., which is home to the National Book Festival and to Politics and Prose, which hosts readings and signings nearly every night of the year. Because of that, I’ve been lucky enough to meet several authors I like an awful lot:

Barbara Kingsolver, 2009

Jacqueline Winspear, 2011

Michael Scott, 2011 (He is my favorite author to attend readings for, because he’s awesome at answering every question every kid in the audience has and for taking their questions and comments very seriously.)

Jasper Fforde, 2010 (I once got to ask him about his lack of thirteenth chapters in his Thursday Next books.)

Rainbow Rowell, 2013 (She is hilarious and very accessible on Twitter. I highly recommend following her there. We chatted briefly about the series finale to Dawson’s Creek, which we both liked. Also, she has fantastic shoes.)

Eliot Schrefer, 2013 (He shares great stories about bonobos and other apes in his Twitter feed.)

Just in case you envied me these experiences too much, though, I thought I’d reprint this story that I originally shared after the 2006 National Book Festival when I got a book signed by Doris Kearns Goodwin:

…Authors tend to leave me tongue-tied and all the kind, gushing things I think of to say to them while I’m waiting in line leave me as soon as I get up to the table.

What went through my brain in this instance was, “I really loved this book [Wait ‘Till Next Year]. It was on an endcap at the library in my old town and it demanded to come home with me one evening even though it wasn’t remotely what I was looking for. And then as I was reading, I was magically transported back 50 years to the ballgames of yore, and I immediately knew that my dad needed to read it. And that I needed to buy copies for my baseball-loving friends. It was the gift-book of the year. And then I eventually had to buy my own copy because I knew it was a story I’d want to re-read. You really do have a gift for making history come alive.”

What came out of my mouth was, “Sorry about your Red Sox.” She smiled patiently at me and said, “Thanks. There’s always next year.” I might as well have been a nerdy middle schooler telling the boy I like “I like your hair.”

Today was a bit of a rush, with work deadlines and friends visiting (and the frantic apartment cleaning that accompanies visitors) and an intense discussion of the #YesAllWomen thread on Twitter, so I am only just now sitting down to write two blog posts and finish up some work writing.

Karen has her usual invitation (now that Amanda has passed on the baton) to share weekend activities and Carole made that the Ten on Tuesday topic today as well, so here is my weekend in a nutshell:

1. Nicole, Julia, Michael, and I picnicked along the river as usual for a Friday evening, but it was a little quieter than usual, since The Yards opted not to schedule a concert over the long weekend, unbeknownst to us and about 100 other people. But Orangina and strawberries and cheese and hummus and chocolate (NOT all at once) with friends are a fine way to start a three-day weekend, with or without music.
2. Strolled to Blind Dog Cafe for chocolate chip cookies and homemade soda (lemon for Rudi; vanilla for me).
3. In honor of Geek Pride Weekend, we watched Star Wars.
4. Sprawled on a blanket at Mitchell Park.
5. Finished two books.
6. Completed the two-color section of the Color Affection I’m knitting.
7. Had a pleasant dinner with friends and their kids.
8. Took an unintended 5-mile hike in Rock Creek Park after the heat returned the lion cubs to their den early and the crowds at the zoo sent us out the back gate.
9. Swam at the pool during its inaugural weekend of the season.
10. Planted my potatoes in the garden (finally!) and harvested my first strawberries.

All in all a nice weekend at home with my sweetie.

How was your weekend?