disappear in the golden sands

Today was great, but I am a freaking wreck -- my voice is almost entirely gone, which surprised me greatly when I tried to say my name at the registration table for this event I went to today. Damn. Despite all my best intentions last night, I didn't sleep very well because I was so congested, which made for a rough morning. But I dragged myself out of bed, got all dolled up (and I looked cute, if I do say so myself), went downstairs, and got checked in for the event. Then I had a quick breakfast in the hotel restaurant; they were serving snacks and also lunch, but I was concerned about the gluten possibilities (quite rightly) and so ate in advance.

Anyway, the event was really good -- I'm not sure it was entirely worth my money, particularly since I had to pay for the hotel, but it was a good learning experience. The event was ostensibly geared towards readers, even though I think the ratio in the room was more like 50/50 authors/readers, and I was attending as a reader since they only let forty people register as official authors. So I didn't have books there for people to sign, although the event organizers had let me mail them bookmarks to put in the promo bags (which may or may not have resulted in any sales -- who knows, although I think my bookmarks are pretty snazzy). But it was good for me to see how other authors handle themselves at these events, and the keynotes were great -- one was by Gail Carriger, who writes these steampunk books I adore, and since she was speaking the event was able to sell her next book (and the final book in her current series) a week earlier than it's supposed to launch, which was exciting. The other was by Meg Cabot, of "Princess Diaries" fame, who is always great.

I also got to hang out with some other authors whom I have quietly been stalking (err, gotten to know) on twitter, which is good career building, if nothing else. The event ended at three, but I hung out with a couple of authors until 4:30ish -- until my voice was entirely gone, at which point I excused myself and came upstairs to keep my hideous rasping croak to myself. I spent the past few hours alternating between procrastinating and catching up on the many dozens of little tasks that have been piling up, and also packing my carry-on to fit the dozen or so books I acquired today. And now, I really really must go to bed. My flight is at 7am, which means I need to be out of here by 5:30, which means I need to wake up around 4:30, which means I'm going to be a v. surly camper tomorrow. Goodnight!