1. Let’s get straight to it. The number one highlight of the Southern Kentucky Book Fest was this:
That’s right, I got to hang out with two of my favorite people and authors: Molly McCaffrey (left) and David Bell (right).
2. And I might have gotten to meet this guy:
(He’s standing next to the tall girl in red above. The tall girl makes everyone look shorter than they are. The tall girl apologizes to The Fonz.)
Seriously, Henry Winkler was super friendly and charming. He hugged my friend Molly and told her how much he loves her personality. We bonded over New York / New Jersey connections.
3. I met three overeducated country boys who brew some damn fine IPA over at Country Boy Brewing:
(Seriously, these guys make great beer, and they majored in things like English and History. They have Master’s Degrees! Yes.)
4. I was assigned an awesome boothmate: Sharon Short
Sharon’s new book is My One Square Inch of Alaska, and I’m excited to read my new copy! She also agreed to participate in my interview series, so more about Sharon to come…
5. Dinner and gossip with the amazing Eric Goodman and Lee Martin, authors of these awesome books that I just bought:
BONUS HIGHLIGHTS:
I sold some books! My attention has been on my forthcoming book, Liliane’s Balcony, due out in the fall, so it was great to talk to people about For Sale By Owner again.
As I drove home I passed a trucker who honked at me. This has not happened to me for years, so I looked in my rearview mirror and saw that he was holding up a sign in his front window that said, “M O M.” I thought, “Geez, how did you know? Is it that obvious?” But when I glanced back again, he had turned the sign over. It now said: “W O W.”
(Oh my!)
ph.d. in creative writing 
We had the first edition of the Texas Book Festival in San Antonio earlier this month. Hearing writers talk about their work – even without receiving any “WOW’s” on the way home – is amazingly stimulating. Which, of course, is why I follow your blog.
Thanks, Denise! It was stimulating enough to inspire a blog post at the busy end of the semester! Glad yours was a success too.
Wonderful experience! Best wishes on your writing career.
Thank you!
I love this list, and I love the shout-out to the Country Boys!
It was great to meet you; I just wish I could have spent more time chatting with you. I hope you come and visit again at a time when I’m a little less busy. And I hope you’ll come back again in 2014 during my busiest weekend too!
Loved those Country Boys, and loved that you picked good beer for the party!
I had a great time, Kristie, and appreciated all you did (and do) to make it a great event. I’d love to see you in a less busy time – and again at the peak of busy, 2014!
W.O.W. indeed! Great post, and great to see you.
Ha ha! Great to see you too, and I’ll be in touch about an interview soon…