Festivals and Conferences and Awards...OH MY


I’ve had a busy year so far. A year ago I’d volunteered to be the book seller liaison for this year’s Pennwriters Conference. I hooked up with Laurie Stephens, the new owner of Mystery Lovers Bookshop who agreed to handle the Conference book sales.  

As we met and made plans for that event, she offered me a job with the book store as author liaison for the Festival of Mystery!

What fun! I had the opportunity to work with all the authors coming to Pittsburgh for the Festival, including one of my favorites, Deborah Coonts, a newcomer to the event.


I also worked closely with Margo at the store, researching all the books, publishers and publication dates prior to ordering stock. I was given access to Ingram’s database, which was one of the most educational experiences I’ve had in ages.

Ingram, by the way, is one of the major distributors of books. By scouring their database, I learned about the deals offered by different publishers to the book stores. Things like discounts and return policies. Fascinating stuff. I could bore you with an entire blog on the subject. But I won’t. Lucky you!

Anyhow, the Festival was a blast. It always is, but being an “insider” made it all the more fun.

I had piggybacked my Festival duties with my Pennwriters Conference duties quite nicely, which was fortunate considering the Conference was less than two weeks after the Festival. This past weekend, Pennwriters held its 26th Annual Writing Conference. And it was incredible as always. We’re just one big family reunion of writers.

My friends Hank Phillippi Ryan, who just won the Mary Higgins Clark Award, and Ramona DeFelice Long, who is editing our local Sisters in Crime chapters upcoming e-anthology, were in attendance and looked smashing in their color-coordinated outfits.

Agent Donald Maass gave an incredible pre-conference workshop on Thursday and an equally incredible keynote address Friday night.



I was thrilled to finally get to meet my fellow Working Stiffs alum Jennie Bentley AKA Bente Gallagher. Here she is at the booksigning chatting with Mary Sutton.


Saturday morning was exceptional for me. I was presented with the 2013 Pennwriters Meritorious Service Award. I would have put money on me NOT winning it. There are many, MANY deserving volunteers in this organization. I was so convinced I was NOT going to win, I had no speech prepared. As if my brain hadn’t already gone to mush the moment I realized Ayleen Stellhorn was talking about ME in her introduction, the membership gave me a standing ovation as I stepped up to accept the award. 


Somehow I choked out a few brief, but heartfelt, words of appreciation. Don’t ask me what I said. I have no idea.


So now I’m trying to bring my feet back to earth, my head out of the clouds, and my tush back to my chair to get some writing done. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mom Update

Image
It’s been a while since I wrote anything about my mom. If you follow me on Facebook, you’ve probably noticed a number of posts recently about long nights in the ER with her. I appreciate the kind concerns and prayers from friends and family. But while I know they’re well intended, the “hope she gets well soon” sentiments cut like a finely honed blade. Mom isn’t going to get well. She has good days and bad. More and more of the latter. Today’s “good days” are about the same as the bad ones a couple months ago. She has vascular dementia. In addition to her mental slippage, her legs have grown weak and uncooperative, adding to her pre-existing balance issues. We plead with her to call for assistance to get out of bed. Unfortunately, she can’t remember that she’s had numerable falls lately, so she continues to try to get up and around on her own, resulting in more falls. And in more trips to the ER. She has dislocated her right hip twice now. She’s hit her head more times
Read more

The 2010 Confluence Writers' Retreat and Flood

Image
For days, the weathermen had been forecasting “THE FLOOD.” With melting snow pack combined with heavy rains, they were suggesting everyone pack up the women and children and move to high ground. Of course, our writers’ retreat was scheduled to be held at Paddler’s Lane , on the scenic banks of the Youghiogheny River in Confluence. “Confluence.” As in the point where the Yough (pronounced “Yawk”) is joined by the Casselman River and the Laurel Hills Creek. As in the place I spend a large portion of my summer at our camp. I scoffed at the panic mongers. Flood? Heck, it floods every spring. I ain’t afraid of no stinking flood. So off I went. Loaded up the car Friday morning under sunny skies and headed east, with joy in my heart. A whole weekend with my Sisters in Crime in a gorgeous house with lots of food. And writing. Oh, yeah. Lots of writing and—better yet—workshops with Ramona Long . First stop: Panera Bread in Uniontown where I met Sandy Stephen, Susan “ West of Mars ” Gottfried, a
Read more

A New Face

Image
I've been hearing over and over lately that I need to get new headshots done. People who only know me from my online presence complain when they meet me that I don't look anything like my picture. Hmmm. Is that good or bad? I'm still not sure. However, the fact that I now wear my hair a lot longer than I used to is a fact I can't deny. The problem with new photos is...well, I'm older than I was when I had those last ones done. If I could get away with posting a picture of me when I was 25, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Seriously, inside my head, that's still what I look like. Outside? Not so much. But I caved in this weekend. After shooting over 60 frames, I came up with four that I like. So I'm posting them here and asking for a vote. Which ONE photo should be my new "face" for my online persona? Choice #1 Choice #2 Choice #3 Choice #4 Leave a comment with your favorite. Okay, I get to make the final decision, so this
Read more