Books and Votes

Above L: San Jose Convention Center. R: Author Signing Table.
Below L: Wine tasting and marketplace booths. R: Author Salon.
I've been meaning to talk about my wonderful experience at Book Group Expo. On Saturday I worked as a volunteer and spent most of the day helping out in the salons where the book talks took place. The topics varied from "Managing Your Mother" to "Secrets of the Suburbs" to "Short Fiction".

The author book discussions were thought-provoking, and the open forum environment--which mimics a book club discussion--allowed for an engaging question and answer session. I was also particularly interested in hearing about their writing processes.

I met up with Erika Mailman, the Instructor from my Novel Writing Course this summer, which was fun. Erika spoke on a panel called "Which Witch is Which" to talk about her wonderful book, The Witches Trinity, which I highly recommend.

On Sunday I was an attendee and was able to get a few books signed, including a new book I've been wanting. It's called The Little Book by Selden Edwards, who has been working on it on and off for over 30 years before finally publishing it. I read about his story a few months ago and found it inspiring. He was just as inspiring in person, very friendly, and encouraging of fledgling writers. Rabih Alameddine was hilarious so I had to pick up his book The Hakawati. Michelle Richmond's The Year of Fog has been in my TBR list for awhile, so I was thrilled to receive a free copy in my loot bag (see below), and pretty equally excited when she told me she liked my barrette(!).

L: Free Loot. R: Signed Books.

I think it's fair to say I plan to go again next year.

To all the Americans out there: don't forget to VOTE tomorrow!