There and Back Again: An Author’s Tale

So this weekend, Tracy and I took a trip to St. George. I’d been invited by the Utah Library Association to be an a Teen Author Panel, and since I have a long history with libraries—my first job was shelving books at the Sandy library—I was happy to say yes. And since I hadn’t yet been that far south in my book signing travels, I figured it was a good chance to stay all weekend and sign at the Barnes and Noble and the Deseret Book in St. George and the Deseret Book in Cedar City.

The ULA conference was a lot of fun; I got to meet some great people and talk to librarians from all over the state. I also got to sit in the audience for the morning session of the Teen Author Panel and visit just a bit with Bree Despain and Emily Wing Smith. They are both such nice people. My panel was later in the day and I enjoyed sitting with L. E. Modesett, Jr. and Philip Jones. (James Dashner was also supposed to be on the panel, but I think something must have come up at the last minute because he wasn’t able to attend.) One thing I really enjoy about being on panels with other authors is to hear their views and opinions about writing, reading, and books. I always seem to learn something new.

My three book signings were a lot of fun, too. I had a steady stream of people coming up to see me or ask about my books. One lady had even come all the way from Beaver to Cedar City (about 100 miles) just to have me sign her books. That is both flattering and humbling at the same time. In St. George, I got to meet one of my fans, Rachel, who had come to see me between her performances of Grease, Jr.

It’s a long drive from Taylorsville all the way to St. George and back again. But I did my best to make the time in the car count. I worked a bit on some editing projects, and I thought a lot about Abby and Dante. And somewhere on the outskirts of Kanosh, I figured out something important about Forgotten Locket. And, oh, yeah, it’s gonna be good.