*megan whalen turner and me! =D

last friday i had the pleasure of having
brunch with one of my favorite authors,
megan whalen turner! my editor had mentioned
megan’s books a few times while i was revising
silver phoenix with her, but i didn’t have the
time to pick up the queen’s thief series until
early this year. eugenides is hands down one of
the best heroes i’ve ever read. and wouldn’t you
know it, megan and i talked for the longest time about
everything but i didn’t get a proper chance to
fangirl gen! megan, if you are reading this, next
time! =D

*i love my vanity fotos because i never look
like this in real life. refer to first foto for real
life cindy. ha! macbook cam magic!!!
squeezed in a much needed hair cut on
saturday and asked for my hair to be blown straight.
i don’t think i look like me with straight hair!

this past thursday, my old assistant dean of
students convinced me to give a speech at
my old college for parents weekend. i have never
written a speech or given one. *gulps*
and like the befuddled writer that i am who
has no concept of the calendar (the only date
i knew was 10/12, when my sequel was due),
i thought i had TWO weeks to prepare.

but um, it’s sort of this coming saturday. ha!
throw in the library visits and i think i’m stretched
just a bit thin. i’m excited to do this for my old
college, i am so fond of my university and my
uni days. but i’m also terrified!
i asked for some advice and many people have
said to include humor in the speech.

here’s the thing. it’s not hard for me to
feel at ease about being funny or goofy or dorky
among a group of people. but me on stage?
i’ve discovered that the audience doesn’t laugh
when i try to be funny and do when i’m not! ouch.
i still remember giving the admissions speech at
nyu and someone in the audience asked if the dorms
had air conditioning. no, i replied. but it does have
heat! people laughed and laughed!

*scratches head*

yeah, i don’t know why either.
maybe it was in the delivery.
but i don’t think i’ll try and be funny
on saturday. =O i have a library visit
the night before too. wish me luck!!

the two library panels i have already had
were a lot of fun! it’s the first year the county
is running the event so everyone is learning
along the way. they did a fantastic job.
there was even a “green room”
for the authors which made me puff up with
importance! ha! really tho, they treated
the authors so well and it’s much appreciated.
i was on panels with : barrie summy, mary pearson,
laura preble, andrew smith, and marlene perez.

two more library visits and the rest of the time
will be spent writing a speech and practicing,
along with quelling any and all sorts of anxiety
attacks. =O

currently reading :

the glassblower of murano
by marina fiorato