ALA!

The American Library Association held its midwinter conference in Boston this year, which means we just had a busy week. We were hosting various of Nancy's writer chums, Jane Kurtz had book signings for the new American Girl launch (click through to her blog for pix), and of course there were social gatherings, not the least of which was dinner with Sibert Medal winner Tanya Lee Stone, followed by a reception for her and her fellow YALSA non-fiction honorees.

At the conference itself, friends in the form of librarians, writers, and publishing folk were thick on the ground, to the extent that it was hard to get more than two feet at a time on the conference floor. Normally this would be an opportunity to scoop up advance reader copies from the publisher booths, but Nancy only got to half of the booths she'd intended to, and I got bageled on ARCs altogether.

The best part of it all was when the weather forced us to stay home and miss the awards ceremony. That meant we could stay home in our slippers and robes, watch the webcast, express ourselves freely, and be surrounded by dear friends.

It was a very good week. Hurry back, ALA!