TLA 2019 reflections

Texas Library Association conference 2019,
​in Austin

#TXLA19 was four days of people, books, more people, more books, and learning! Lots of fun, but also tiring, especially for all of us introverts. But as I told a friend, if I'm going to be surrounded by people all day, librarians, teachers, and authors are some of my favorite people ever! 

There were so many sessions I wanted to attend, but several of them were in conflict with each other or with events I was participating in.  I was fortunate to be included in the Texas Authors Speed Dating event, in which authors rotated among tables of librarians to share about books.  I loved my table mates, two incredible picture book authors, and I met a room full of fabulous librarians.  The next day, I was on a panel with Texas middle grade and YA authors--and the room was bigger than I expected!  It was my first panel and I was nervous, but everyone was such fun that the time flew by. Before I knew it, I was running to my book signing!  We gave away one hundred signed copies of SHORTCUTS in thirty minutes to librarians and teachers! YAY!!

It was such a dreamy moment-- I had walked by those author signing events at the last TLA I went to, when I was in library school, wishing so much that one day I'd be there as an author.  And this week, I was!  Thank you SO MUCH for being a part of that!

Here are a few images from the week.  If you've never been to a big conference like TLA or ALA, they are hard to describe, but this year, I noticed that being involved in my writing community  made a big difference. The last time I went, I saw only a couple of people I knew, briefly.  It was great, but a little lonely. This time, I visited with many people I knew from online and real life, and got to meet new friends through those connections, too.  Get involved, and you'll find your writing journey a lot more fun!