Lovely Ladies & Naughty Books Signing!

I’ve been a mom for nearly twelve years now, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there are two types of moms.

Those who take pictures, and those who don’t.

If you’re a mom, or dad…or even adorable aunt or supporting best friend, you’ve most likely been to a dance recital or school play.  There are those parents who fight for the best seats, arriving sometimes hours in advance with their giant, expensive camera and camcorders so they can capture every single second of little Johnny’s cute face.

And then there are the parents like me.  We love our kids just as much, but well…let’s just say our lives are maybe less organized.  We show up early, but not nearly as early.  We get decent seats and are just as proud.  But cameras? Isn’t that what my iPhone is for? And a camcorder? Again, iPhone? Those big cameras are heavy…and EXPENSIVE!

So, why am I saying all of this on a post about a book signing?  Well, partially because I’m a rambler, and also because I’m trying to say I’m also the author who shows up at events and takes ZERO PICTURES.  Yeah, none.  I still have an excellent time, love meeting my readers and author friends, but I totally suck at the whole picture taking thing. Which is why this post has a random picture of my kid at my table.  Because it was the only picture I took of the event.  Go me!

Anyway, moving on to the actual weekend.

I was so incredibly honored to be invited to this event.  Not only was it in the Nation’s capitol, which is a gorgeous place, but it was also with a group of ladies I admire and adore.  Winning!

My girls and I kicked out this DC adventure on Friday, the day before the signing.  My husband was in Texas so it was just the three of us.  Which meant I got the honor of driving in DC.  Boo….

Now, most of you don’t know this about me…but I hate driving.  Like seriously hate it.  It’s boring…the sun gets in my eyes.  Yeah, hate it.  When we go on long trips, my husband drives.  He’s fine with it.  Don’t feel bad for him.  But since he was in Texas, I drove.  It was only an hour and a half, so not bad.  But it was DC, so therefore..it sucked.

Driving in DC traffic on a weekday is a nightmare.  There are one way streets everywhere.  There are people and construction and cops everywhere.  And of course there can’t just be normal four way intersections.  There have to be these intersections that look like giant spiders and the GPS just says, “Turn left!” WHAT LEFT SIRI? WHAT LEFT?!!

Anyway, we made it to the hotel in one piece. My tweenager made fun of me a bit but all was forgiven.  We had a nice relaxing afternoon at the National Archives with four thousand other people, including a thousand school groups and ate dinner down the street from the hotel.

My husband managed to sneak into our hotel room that night (morning?) around 2AM after a midnight flight into Dulles so it was good to have him back.  The next morning, I woke up bright and early and my assistant (my oldest daughter) and I headed down for breakfast and setup.

And then the madness descended.  In all honesty, this was one of the best events I’ve ever attended.  Everyone was happy and cheerful to be there…the organizers were amazing and the location was gorgeous.  I spent the day meeting and greeting tons of readers, signing books and smiling.  It was a great day.  And I was even fed.  Bonus!

My daughter especially loved all the attention.  There was a moment when we finished setting up the table before the first session began that we decided to take a potty break.  When we walked outside, everyone on line said hi and several recognized her from my Facebook and Instagram posts.  She felt like a celebrity.  I was cool for a second.

One of the best parts of group signings, besides meeting and talking with fans, is the chance for me to reconnect with my friends.  Authors tend to be highly introverted.  It’s just part of our job.  We work alone, and our closest friends are sometimes other writers who might not live down the street or even in the same state.  Getting to catch up with Mia Sheridan and her husband, Tara Sivec, RK Lily, Katie Ashley and Jasinda Wilder was great.  And I got to hug Kim Holden!

After lots of promises to meet everyone in the bar after a family dinner, I totally crashed.  Yep, I suck.  After the four of us enjoyed a quiet dinner, I crawled back to our room, got into my PJ’s (it was seriously 7:30 at night guys) and ordered one of those ridiculously expensive in-room movies for the kids and collapsed on the bed.  It was heaven.

So, even though I don’t have any pictures of the actual event, trust me.  It was awesome.  And to those of you that were actually there…thank you so much for making it out to see us!

<3 JL