Amazing Days

 So, after three days of driving, Gin, Julianne, and I all arrived at the hotel.  We were happy, we were bonded, we were excited that we had made it and…

Mary drove up and suddenly they were in their rooms and we were apart.

I mourned.

But then Mary took me to her dad’s house for dinner, and I was no longer in mourning, I was charmed, because her dad and his wife are lovely people, and they fed me chicken cacciatore to die for.  It would charm anybody.

That was a good day.

And then the next day, Mary and Jaime Samms and I took Mary’s rental car to the airport, and then had a cab drop us off at Powell’s books, where we saw everything from Star Wars Shakespeare to magnets with Julie Andrews on them singing “Look at all the fucks I give!”

Also in there, we met Andrew Grey, which was fortuitous because he was looking for someone to spend the day with, and we were just exactly the kind of someones he wanted!

With Andrew, we finished our spin around Powell’s, and then we went out to lunch, and then we went to the Buffalo Clothing Exchange, and then we walked to VooDoo Doughnuts.  While we were walking around– and there was a lot of walking around, we saw this advert for strippers, and I remembered that Mate told me Portland had a stupid number of strip clubs per capita.  As Julianne and I got in the car, in fact, he asked me if I remembered my ones.  So I stopped and took a picture of the strip club, so he could know that, no, I did not have enough ones, and I didn’t go in. After that, we came back to our hotel room where people just kept running in and visiting until it was time to get ready for the yarn store.

While at the yarn store, JP Barnaby wanted a picture to prove to her fans that she was actually in a yarn store, because that is not a very likely place for JP to be.  I gave her my project to hold while she was getting her picture taken, and Elizabeth couldn’t let her have that picture taken while she was holding the needles wrong.  What followed was this charming picture of Elizabeth helping JP knit.  Imma treasure this one always!

After that, we went to a restaurant in the sky, where I ordered too much steak, and actually took some back to the hotel to eat later, thinking I would never eat it, because there is too much good food in Portland.

This morning, it was go go go go– we went to the presentations and then to lunch and then to the presentations, where Tere Michaels charmed the holy socks off of all of us while talking about secondary characters.  It was an amazing lecture, and very funny, and she should get a medal for making it funny, because I woulda sent y’all to sleep, I have no qualms.

Anyway, after that, we came to our rooms, where I finished the editing for The Bells of Times Square, and then sent it to beta readers and agent.  YOu guys all remember the ending from Titanic?  Yeah?  Well good.  Because I only want to write that ending once.

And after a snack in our room, we got gussied up and then met for the DSP cocktail party, where these two beautiful women whom I love deeply and sincerely were headed.

It was a fantastic party, but Mary and I had to run away early– we hadn’t had dinner.  Of course, once we got to our room, we realized we didn’t want to leave, and that we had enough snacks–and, yes, the leftovers from the night before which I’d forgotten about– that we didn’t.  We did what old people do.  We watched television, talked briefly, and now, I am doing what I would do at home:

Writing while my work-wife sleeps.

So guys, could you keep up?

Cause I don’t think I can, and I was here for all of the amazing days.

I can’t wait until I’m home, and I can tell Mate and the kids all about them too.  I bought them lots of souvenirs at Powell’s, because, as always, in spite of the madness, home is my favorite place to sleep– but I’ve got four or five nights to go!