Night, Day, and the Yarn Truck

*  Our first night here (Tuesday) was glorious. Mate and I had a long drive, and we enjoyed talking, sans kids, and he loved the room. We got here when the All Star game was starting, and he grabbed my arm and pulled me outside, excited as a kid.

 "Did you hear that?"

"No. What is it?"

"It's the national anthem from the game!"

"That's really cool!"

And at that moment, the Blue Angels flew between US and the hotel across from us.

And we both almost crapped our pants with the total cool of that.

* Alas, I had to take Mate to the airport yesterday morning. He didn't understand why I had to do full hair and makeup before I left the room. I couldn't find words to explain to him that I would see people before I got back to my hotel room-- but it was true, and I did, and dudes, I was so glad I went full dress/makeup.

*  The signing went really well. I signed Winter Ball, and sold all but three books. I bought the books for a pittance and gave them away to nice people before the night was over!

*  Chicken came to see both Mate and I on Tuesday and then she came to see me during and after the signing. Totally on accident, we wore dresses that almost matched. And she didn't mind having her picture taken with me. I was SO EXCITED that she didn't mind looking like her big gorilla mama!

*  Last night I had dinner with Sue Brown-Moore of Grave Tells, and I had a fabulous time. Among those at the table were the glorious Cindy Dees, the lovely Asa-Maria Bradley, the ever amazing Damon Suede, and, of course, Sue.  (and Chicken and a couple of other people I didn't catch and feel bad about missing. SORRY!)  You guys--Sue and Cindy and (crap... can't remember her name, she was awesome!) were the best table mates. And Cindy-- omg, you guys. She's a fan of ME!!! I almost cried, because she's totally awesome and punched a drunk diplomat in the nose once and I adored her.  And she liked my books. *cheers*

*  I drove Chicken to the trolley station so that she might not get attacked, violated, or even killed. Guys, the trolley stations down here are scary. I was glad to do it.

*  Today I had elevenses and lunch with the dynamic amazing Karen Rose.  Then I went to the Carina Press spotlight and met back up with Karen for her discussion on presenting characters with disabilities. I was so impressed by the way Karen led this round table--and by the candor with which people spoke. It was a real good start for the change of diversity in literature, and I was proud to be a tiny part of it.

*  Afterwards, there was the Yarn Truck, which was a brilliant idea.  Brought to to us by Fish With Sticks, who is a freelance editor, the Yarn Truck comes to events where people might want to buy yarn, and Fish sat outside and handed out cards.  Brilliant on both parts. Fish got good coverage for her business, and the Yarn Truck is the Yarn Truck because rent in LA is so high. It's a traveling yarn store, and guys, the stock was amazing!

*  And here's where a glitch happened.  A funny one. Because I went to buy $126 worth of AMAZING yarn, and the Yarn Truck owner typed an extra 5. So, my attempt to purchase $5,216 dollars of yarn was declined. Thank fuck.

But the credit card alarm was tripped, and my attempt to buy $126 dollars worth of yarn was also denied.

So I used cash and my Wells Fargo card to buy the yarn, and then I got a FREAKED OUT text from Mate.

"5K IN YARN? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

And after I explained that no, I was only a little crazy, not full blown Howard Hughes, he had me call up the credit card so that I might have a credit card when I'm 600 miles from home.

The credit card company was also highly amused.

So were my readers-- they, uh, were also skeptical that it was a typo. I SWEAR, the extra 5 was a type. Really. No lie. *nods*  True story!

*  And when that was done, the loveliest and mostest perfect Tina DeSalvo came to talk to me-- we've met before, usually when she is with Cherry Adair, but this time it was the two of us alone. We sat and chatted, and decided to go to dinner together. She ran upstairs to put her stuff away, and the also loveliest and most perfect Lynda Aicher came to hug me!  (You guys--blessings abound in my company this trip--I am so happy to see the people here!)

Tina returned, and we went looking for a restaurant and Tina was flagged down by her friends Roxanne St. Claire, Kristin Painter, and Mary Kay Andrews.  You GUYS! Roxanne is the MC of the RITA ceremonies! Kristin is an AMAZING paranormal author, and Mary Kay is a stunning author of bestselling women's fiction.

I was like "Hi, I'm, uh, Amy Lane. I'm a genre slut. Scuse me while I babble."

And they were lovely companions--I felt as though embraced by sisters. While we were out, we met Farah Rochon, who was so very kind when talking about the disability discussion-- I felt so good about being a part of that. *waves* Thanks Farah!

At the end of the evening, though, as we were getting into the elevators, there were a bunch of drunk guys, going, "Hey, ladies, we got some original stuff for YOU if you want to write about us!" I was like, "I write gay romance-- come at me, dude-bro, come at me!"  But I think Tina was a little embarrassed. *sigh* It's true-- I'm just not meant for nice company. But it sure was nice while it lasted!