Still basking in the sparkling shadows of great writers...

My friend Samantha and I just returned from the AWP conference, which was held in Denver this year.  We arrived on Thursday morning, ready to be overwhelmed by the 6000 registered participants.  (6000!)
Although every hour brought it's "oh my God!" moment--and yes, both Samantha and I regressed to weird, hyperbolic, teenage swooning one too many times--there were some definite high points that deserve to be preserved in blog history.

Here are the Top 20 moments, in no particular order:

20.  Free buttons, pens, candies, bookmarks, and other irresistible objects table after table after table (times 100)

19. The hotel bed at The Crowne Plaza, which I swear fit me like a uterus it was so comfortable--
  And yes, I could have stayed in that bed happy as a fetus for 9 months.

18. The friendly Denver Homeland Security airport personnel, who didn't yell at me during my up-close-and-personal-bag-inspection for placing about 7 bottles of various creams in my carry-on without sticking them in the plastic baggy

17. Michael Chabon's interview with himself.

16.  Seeing my freshman creative writing teacher again--Sheryl St. Germain

15.  Witnessing Sam buy an $8 smoothie

14.  Dreaming about Summer Writing Workshops next summer

13.  Appletinis

12.  Peartinis

11.  Chatting at the bar with fellow writers, and finding two degrees of separation among all of us strangers.

10.  Reimbursements

9.  Sam getting all weepy over the fact that she and Michael Chabon share all but one favorite book in common, and only because she hasn't yet read that one book.

8.  Buying a 1958 copy of The Paris Review: interview with Hemingway and Philip Roth's first published story


7.  The Big Blue Bear

6.  Free internet at the hotel

5.  Hearing the lyrics to Bessie Smith's "Black Mountain Blues"

4.  Being introduced to Etgar Keret's short stories

3.  Rita Dove.  Phenomenal.  Inspirational.

2.  "I. Love. Him!" (Samantha swooning over Michael Chabon's keynote speech. See visual aid.)

1. See that Jhumpa Lahiri is next year's keynote, which means I have no choice but to attend the conference next year in Washington, D.C.!

AWP, surfing for blurbs, and other calisthenics

Well, I've finally paid my dues for another year's membership with AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) so I can attend the AWP Conference in Denver next spring. Anyone else going? Last year, the conference was in Chicago, where my friend Andrea and I came down with temporary cases of ADHD from the hundreds of options offered to us. Because Andrea had some prior commitments, I found myself scrambling for company come dinnertime (and not always successfully, let me tell you). Here's a picture of a more fortunate dinner arrangement, with my dear friend Andrea Leavey and Bob Butler (we did Asian fusion that evening).

So this year, I'm booking my dinner companions early. If you're attending, and I've never met you, please join Andrea and me sometime for "good eats" at the conference!

What am I doing between then and now? Surfing for blurbs. You know, those little quotes on the dust covers of books: "a phenomenal triumph!" "this year's must-read!" "a debut taken by storm!" followed by a newspaper title, The New Yorker, or Ben Affleck (yes, he really wrote a blurb). None of these blurbs are mine, mind you. You'll see my blurbs come next spring. It feels a little awkward, a bit imposing, and sometimes downright embarrassing to think about the whole prospect of getting a blurb. First, you have to be bold enough to ask someone to read your book. The whole thing. Before Christmas. My mom doesn't even read my books. She just wants the lowdown: "So, in a nutshell, what's your book about?" she says. (I love you, Mom.)

I need about 5 or so from "interesting" or "influential" people. I have a few special endorsements (and I'm truly honored to received them), and now I'm waiting for word about another one from a certain someone here in Dallas. It makes my stomach all gurggly inside as I ruminate over the whole petal-picking scenario:
The reader loves it? (pluck)
The reader loves it not? (pluck)
The reader loves it? (pluck)
I can't bear to go on.

Once the blurbs are gathered and printed, a review copy of the book is bound and sent to the major book reviewers. We'll cross our fingers and hope the blurbs are tempting enough for someone from Publishers Weekly to nestle down with Song of the Orange Moons beside a cozy fire and cup of tea. Or brandy.

I'll keep you posted as we move along the next stage of this adventure ride called publishing!