Skip to content

Baltimore Book Festival Day One: Fan Girl Alert!

photo (15)
Mini Moe #2 with one of her favorite authors!

 

Let me start by saying that Mini Moe #2 decided a week ago that she needed her own distinct text ringtone on my phone. She picked her own–it’s called Sci-Fi, and it’s got a very eerie feel to it. One could say it’s very Twilight Zone-ish. The kind of ringtone you don’t really want to suddenly hear while you’re working all alone in your place of work that may or may not be haunted. It also stands out in a not-so-great way when you’re in a very small, quite busy, yet somehow quiet mini-mart in the heart of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon section, buying a couple of sodas and a small packet of Tylenol.

The messages I was getting?

Mini Moe #2: OMG I SEE MEG!!!

me: Ok, fan girl

MM#2: She is right there!!!!!

me: Uh huh. My ringtone is scaring people in the minimart

MM#2: Good omg I can’t believe it she is right there

me: Yes, honey. So you said.

By this time, we’re finally checking out. And I’ve now silenced my phone, because the weird looks were disconcerting.

MM#2: Just omg!!!

Totally adorable. When Mini Moe #1 and I got back to the tent, she was practically vibrating out of her seat with joy.

And then Meg Cabot came up for her panel, and…well, the whole trip was totally worth it, just to see her so excited.

Just in case her day wasn’t enough awesome with awesome sauce, MM#2 also won a gift basket of goodies from author Nancy Weeks at the Putting the Suspense in Romance panel. Her birthday was six days away from Nancy’s, which was how the winner was selected. Actually, Mini Moe #1’s birthday was also six days away from it in the other direction–it’s like we were fated to win. MM#1 and I were taking that basket–and the bag o’ books that MM#2 bought earlier in the day and had signed by most of the Young Adult Paranormal Fiction panel–back to the car when MM#2 had her first Meg sighting. And the rest was history….

Clearly, day one was a huge success, even if we missed the Jane Austen panel due to a parking lot mishap, blocked off streets, and an inordinate number of one-ways. I told MM#1 I would give him kudos for his navigation skills, even if he still has yet to learn that a person cannot make a left-hand turn when in busy traffic and the right-hand lane, and that saying, “That was the road you were supposed to turn down” just after one passes it is not as helpful as something like, “This road right up here will be our turn.” Still, we got there and back in one piece and he was very good at ignoring the slightly bad words that I might have said once or twice when the map was not our friend. And now he’s darn near an expert at telling the iMap app to “go to [insert desired address here] from current location.”

So it’s all good.

Here’s some of MM# 2’s pics from some of the panels we heard today:

photo (14)
Writing Historical Fiction, with (L to R) Stephanie Dray, Kate Quinn, Laura Tilley, and Terri Brisbin
photo (13)
Young Adult Paranormal Fiction, with (L to R): Alethea Kontis, Dawn Rae Miller, Lea Nolan, Diana Peterfreund, Bridgid Kemmerer, and Jennifer L. Armentrout

Notice the banner? It fell down during the Hot Paranormal Fiction panel (when my phototographer was at the Graphic Novel D.I.Y. workshop), and may or may not have been knocked down by a ghost that Joya Fields brought to the festival.

photo (12)
Putting the Suspense in Romance, with (L to R) Geri Krotow (mostly blocked), Regina Jeffers, Joya Fields, Rebecca York, Robin Covington, and (off camera) Nancy Weeks

MM#2’s basket is on the corner of the table closest to the camera!

photo (11)
Fantasy Elements in Romance, with (L to R) Vivi Dumas, Dawn Rae Miller, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Catherine Asaro, Stephanie Draven, Robin Kaye
photo (10)
Chocolate and Romance, with (L to R) Christie Kelley, Meg Cabot, and Christi Barth (Eliza Knight, Robin Covington, and Laura Kaye are off camera)

 

It was a fantastic day, even if every time I managed to come up with a question to ask someone else asked it first or the panelists answered it without being asked. All of the talks were very entertaining, the food was delicious, and the number of books in my TBR pile increased by roughly a bazillion, give or take a few.

All of the authors were fantastic, especially the ones who signed MM#2’s books for her. Special shout-outs go to Lea Nolan, Diana PeterfreundAlethea Kontis, and Brigid Kemmerer, who I’m pretty sure now have fans for life in both of us.

Should someone warn Meg Cabot that we’ll be back for her Book Group talk with Jennifer L. Armentrout on Sunday?

Nah… 😉

In the meantime, bring on day two!

[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

Published inauthor eventbook festivalsbook-related eventsBOOKS!