Joy Preble: MCBF15 and Fifteen Minutes of Fame

One of the most enjoyable parts of the author biz is getting to hang out with readers and librarians and other authors at festivals and conferences and trade shows and the like. Nothing beats the excitement of talking to readers and answering their questions. And nothing beats the time spent with other authors who all 'get it' and share the wild and crazy ups and downs of what is mostly a dream profession and some days like a perpetual heart attack.

Plus this weekend of the Montgomery County Book Festival (MoCo Texas, that is) had the extra added thrill of getting to be interviewed for three solid minutes on live TV on the ABC Houston morning show! Yes, author Kim O'Brien and I headed down to ABC got our three minutes of fame. It was surreal and fun and honestly not at all terrifying. Partly this was due to the fact that just as I might have gotten nervous, the troupe of Chinese New Year dancers, complete with a multi part dragon, finished their segment and trouped through the ABC lobby where we were waiting. This was so mezmerizing that I forgot to be nervous when the producer came to get us seconds later. After that, it goes quickly and we were miked up and sat down and boom there we went, prompters scrolling for the news anchor and us chatting away as he asked questions.

And then it was back to the festival with a brilliant and heartfelt keynote by my friend and mentor, the ever awesome Ellen Hopkins and a closing keynote by the equally brilliant Andrew Smith, who never fails to make me both laugh and cry and whose writing blows me away just as his philosophy of public education makes me want to give speeches of solidarity!

I'm on a deadline right now and I honestly need to walk the dog before the ice creeps down from Dallas -- as they say it will-- so a few quick pics for you from both!
And a heartfelt thank you to librarian Natasha Benway and to MCBF board member and TV anchor Tom Abrahams for asking us to do this!