I got back home right after midnight last night after a whirlwind day. But my first NCTE was a lot of fun! San Antonio is a cool city, although my feet aren’t too happy with the blisters I now have from walking so much. But it was great to meet so many teachers and school librarians and talk with them about blogging and reading. The panel yesterday with Lauren Myracle and Walter Mayes was so much fun. Lauren, Walter, and I are now in talks about going on the road to continue our performances as Maddie, Angela, and Zoe from l8r, g8r. 😉
I took some time Sunday afternoon to visit the Alamo–since it was conveniently across the street from my hotel. They won’t let you take pictures inside, so I only have pictures of the outside. It was interesting to see and being the sentimental sap I am, I did tear up a bit when I spotted the North Carolina state flag in honor of the North Carolinians who fought at the Alamo. Linas Alsenas, author of Gay America (and he’s a rock star because his book sold out so fast!), asked me about the story of the Alamo as we were walking to the ALAN cocktail reception, but I couldn’t remember from school history classes all the details of the exact story so I told him I’d look it up once I got home. So here it is. It’s weird though to see the Alamo right there in the middle of town, with all of these hotels and restaurants and shops surrounding it. I think of historical places as like most of the ones that I see around in my area–a bit away from everything and with huge pieces of land and trees surrounding them.
It was a fun trip and I got to feel a bit like a rock star, so thanks to all the teachers and librarians and everyone else who made the conference great. Although I almost thought on Friday that I might not make it to the conference–it snowed Friday morning in Raleigh and my plane was delayed over an hour. So I missed my original flight to San Antonio when I finally got to Dallas, but luckily they were able to get me on the next one. So I made it there, just a little later than planned. The flight back to NC was no problem at all though. No delays and plenty of time for me to grab lunch at the San Antonio airport and supper at Dallas.
It was so great meeting authors I hadn’t met before and tons of librarians and teachers, and also getting to hang out with the other Abrams authors and staff.
I loved this horse in my hotel! More pictures from my trip are here.
And now, I have edits on my second book–TROY HIGH–awaiting me. The manuscript arrived on Friday while I was on my way to San Antonio. Also, my parents are coming into town tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving in NC!
Huh.
So…the Texans lost?
That reminds me of the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, a multi-million-dollar museum dedicated to a restored, elaborate 17th-century warship that sank in Stockholm harbor…two hours into its launch ceremony on a beautiful day. Quite the engineering catastrophe.
Well, I suppose it’s good that we learn from our failures! 🙂
(Hi, Shana! It’s Linas, of course!)
Re: Huh.
That sounds like what we have in my hometown–a replica and what’s left of the original Confederate ironclad ship which sank in our river in town without seeing battle during the Civil War.
Hi, Linas! 🙂
Two things:
1) If you do really decide to do a tour of your L8R G8R performances, come to VA so I can meet you all. 🙂 hehe
2) When does Troy High come out, and what is it about?
Have a great Thanksgiving and glad to hear the conferences went well! 🙂
Troy High is scheduled for Fall 2009. It’s a modern day retelling of Helen of Troy and the Trojan War, based mostly on The Iliad. The “war” takes place among two high schools that are huge football rivals against each other and the story is told by Cassie, the modern day Cassandra the Seer. I’ll release more info about it as the publication date draws closer! I’m still in the editing phase right now. 🙂
I hope you have a great Thanksgiving!
Ooo, sounds like a great book! Can’t wait to read it! 🙂
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