This photo was taken at last year's ALA conference in Washington D.C. during a panel I was on with (from L to R) our moderator, Sherman Alexie, Cecily Von Ziegesar, me, and Laurie Halse Anderson.
Why am I showing you a photo from last year? Partly because I never got around to actually posting it last year, but mostly because I forgot to bring my camera to this year's ALA conference, which just so happened to take place in my hometown of Orange County, CA. And after navigating the freeways, finding a parking space, and then walking (in 4" wedges) all the way to Hall A, only to discover I'd left my camera behind, I was not about to go back and get it.
And even though I didn't get to document it, I had an absolute blast signing a ton of books- copies of both CRUEL SUMMER and SAVING ZOE-- so many copies I even ran out of the bookmarks I'd brought (and nope, I wasn't going home for those either!). I met a ton of awesome librarians, as well as the daughters and granddaughters of librarians. I even met the librarian at my old high school who brought me a picture of a display that they made in my honor--including my yearbook photo! See below:
And, of course, no ALA is complete without carting away a couple bags of free books. But unlike BEA where I went a little overboard, (um, 82 books anyone?), this time I kept it reasonable (17). And I even managed to snag a few ARCS I've been really wanting to read, including Brooke Taylor's UNDONE, and Stephanie Kuehnert's I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE. Now all I need is some quiet time so I can actually sit down and read them!
Oh, and the awesome Robin over at FOLUSA made me a copy of my READ poster (shown here with my my collection of ALA ARCs). Please ignore messy office credenza it's propped on!
A mess that probably won't get cleaned up anytime soon as July promises to be extremely busy, what with my niece and a nephew's annual surf camp visit, my 4th of July beach and fireworks party, Rock 'N' Read on July 13 (save the date!), the RWA conference in San Fran (my first ever, can't wait!), oh, and did I mention I'm on deadline????
Back to work for me--- Happy July 1st everyone!
13 comments:
Wow, Alyson! First, I'm so excited that you signed so many books that you ran out of bookmarks, but I'm not surprised. :).. Then, to see your high school dedicate a shrine to you - amazing. :) Finally, the ARCs - I'm so jealous you got your hands on IWBYJR and Undone. :) What a perfect day.
Hey Keri- It really was like a perfect day-- and yeah, the high school thing was amazing, especially since I barely made it out of there!
That poster is soooo cool! What a star panel! :)
Hey Jessica- Yup, it really was a star panel- I felt like a total imposter!
I just finished "Fly Me To The Moon" -- I thought it was really good, and I related to Hailey in certain ways. I just graduated from university this spring, so I feel a lot like Hailey did, like her life was undecided.
Wow, ALA always sounds like such an amazing time! =)
-- Ashley
Sounds like a wonderful time, and WOW on the panel you were on last year. I love the little shrine your high school library made in your honor. That's so great.
Hey Ashley- Wow, big congrats on your graduation- what a great feeling that must be! And thanks for the kind words on FLY ME- I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Hey Caryn- Yup, that panel was awesome- and if you ever get a chance to see Sherman Alexie speak- go! He is HI-LARIOUS!
I'm so jealous of the awesomeness of ALA. I'm hoping to go to next year's so you should totally go to that one too!:)
Alyson, I went on Saturday only, but I saw a big sign at your booth that you were going to sign on Monday. I was with Marlene, and we both said we were so bummed we missed you! I'm glad your signing went well. One of these days, we'll have to meet up again.
Wow--what a fabulous month! I'm getting a contact buzz just reading about it!
And ditto on the Sherman Alexie--I was lucky enough to hear him about 4 years ago and would list him on the "must see" list.
Hey GreenBeanTeenQueen- I hear next year's is in Chicago-- and I LOVE that city so I'm hoping to go!
Debby- I had every intention of going on Saturday, but ended up at the desert instead . . .sorry I missed you and Marlene!
Pam- Loving the "contact buzz" so funny! And yup, Sherman Alexie rocks!
You're such a rock star--super cool panel, shrine...very cool!!
I've been dying to read IWBYJR too! SO glad you got an ARC of Undone--the pub is officially out of arcs now!
Hey Brooke- I can't wait to dig into your book, I was so excited to grab a copy!
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