Anxiety Smackdown: The Indies Invade Philly Event Version- PART 1

The day before Indies Invade Philly a really good friend gifted me with a morning session ticket. She knew I had originally had tickets for both, but I had donated my morning session to an on-line charity auction. And I had missed out on the morning blogger session tickets because I hadn’t been blogging for long before they were made available and had no idea what a blogger ticket even was. Honestly, that morning session saved my ever-loving ass. If I had shown up for session 2 having not attended session 1, I never would have made it in the door.

Session 1: After having crepes for breakfast at Reading Terminal Market, my sister, spawns, niece, and supplemental niece (sister’s exchange student from Prague) walked me over the convention center, ushered me up the escalator, and shepherded me down the hall to registration. Session 1 was already underway, so the registration table was clear, but the sounds coming from inside the open door were already overwhelming. Everyone sounded extremely happy and excited, but it was loud. So loud. But I had my shit together. My rolling suitcase was full of books, my backpack had labels for e-mails lists, my knitting, and my purse inside, and my Yeti filled with cold water in an outside pocket. My cellphone was fully charged and ready to call for help. I mean, ready to take a thousand photos of me with authors and other fangirls. And I completely and totally froze, right there in the hallway. And then, like a scene from a freaking spaghetti western, there was a white Stetson rising above the other heads. Joey! THE Joey Bowden. Our Book Bubba. Who needs a hero on a white horse when there’s one with a white cowboy hat right there in the convention center lobby? And poor Joey, I totally used him as my lifeline. Once I had a hug from him, I sent my anxiety support family members on their way, got my IIP swag bag and badge, and in I went.

After getting wrist bands for Claire Kingsley, Lucy Score, Pippa Grant, Amy Daws, Melanie Moreland, and the narrator table, I headed straight for one of my absolute favorite authors: Avery Maxwell. She had a line! Which was wicked awesome. And it wasn’t a short line, either. And right in front of me in line was Joyce; I recognized her from several FB groups, she has a beautifully contagious smile. And she was wearing a name tag, so I could confirm it was her before making a complete ass of myself if it wasn’t her. Chatting with her while in line lowered my shoulders a few more millimeters. But by the time I got up to Avery I was a mess again. I think I teared up. Yeah, I just met her the night before at the bar in the hotel, but here she was, at her author table. With books, and swag, and her husband Mr. Maxwell, and her PA Rhon! OMG! Rhon was there!!! Rhon who had talked me off several ledges this past year. Who laughed and cried with me over books and life. And who is one of my best TBR enablers. And they had saved me a blogger gift. I think I cried a little. I honestly don’t remember. You know what else I didn’t remember? To get a picture with Avery. She signed my books, and Mr. Maxwell gathered stickers and magnets and a coaster for me, and I think I hugged Avery over the table. I honestly don’t remember. I was so overwhelmed. After chatting with some new Avery readers and letting them know they had to read all the things, I walked away feeling accomplished, and a little light headed. And my shoulders were definitely back up to my ears.

I wandered around to a few more tables meeting authors and getting books signed. I met Stephanie Rose and she signed Safeguard for me. And you know what I didn’t remember to get from Stephanie? A picture. Yep. Fangirl Fail 2. She signed my book and I bee-lined to A.M. (Amanda) Johnson because her table was at the end of the row, in a corner, and not far from the entrance/exit to the lobby. Amanda signed my books, gathered stickers for me, and we chatted for a bit until her line built up again. But guess what I did get this time? A picture!! My first author photo and it was with the author who wrote “Let There Be Light!” I did it! I got a picture with one of my favorite authors! Achievement unlocked!

After chatting with Amanda, I escaped to the lobby to regroup, breathe, drink some water, and rearrange my books. I found a little corner, claimed a spot on the floor, and planned my next foray into the signing room. I also took stock of what had just happened. The first thing I realized was that I brought way too many books. And I kept having to rearrange them in the suitcase to get to the ones I still needed signed. Plus, some had already been signed by authors but not the narrators, so they needed to be accessible but not as accessible. The signing room was too crowded to open the suitcase inside so I planned who I was going to try to see next, put their books in my bright red Brayzen Bookwyrm bag, and carried it on my shoulder when I went back in. With my backpack on my back, and dragging the suitcase behind me like a reluctant puppy, I continued on my quest.

That bright red bag, that red tote bag that my dear friend Dawn made for me, it was like a happy friend beacon! I was completely focused on getting through the crowd to the next author, and to say I had tunnel vision would be an understatement. But my bookish friends, my fellow fangirls, they found me!! I never would have found them in that vast sea of faces, but they saw my red bag. And my frizzy curls. Want to be really amused? Check out my photos on either my IG or FB page and follow the ever-increasing frizz factor. There’s your timeline of who I met when. The bigger the hair, the later in the day the picture was taken.

My second incursion in Session 1 brought me to Melanie Moreland’s table. Can I just tell you how much of a gem she is? And how freaking amazeballs her PA Karen is? And it’s not just because they also saved a blogger gift for me. I mean, that was freaking awesome and so incredibly unexpected and appreciated, and it does make them amazing, but they are amazing for so many reasons. Their kindness made me feel so good. I watched them interact with the readers in front of me, taking their time to chat and answer questions, sign books and take pictures, never making the readers feel rushed or unnoticed. And I absolutely got a picture with Melanie. Because I wasn’t going to forget that again.

Next was signatures from Melanie Harlow, who I forgot to take a picture with. Yeah, yeah, yeah… I know what I just said. I was a little start struck, I think. And a lot overwhelmed again. My starstruck with Melanie H was different from my fangirly behavior with Avery, Amanda, and Melanie M. I’d interacted with the latter three on several occasions, but my interactions with Melanie H were limited to comments in her reader group. So I didn’t have the same safe connection to her. It was a weird feeling. Plus, Melanie H had over a dozen pretty colored sharpies she was using to sign books. And I got distracted by the pretty pens. Which we did talk about, amusingly enough. But I forgot a picture with her. Dammit!

After the Melanies, I was back out in the hallway to sort through books and plan my next steps. Think Trick-or-Treat break when you were a kid and you came home to sort through your candy before heading back out to the second half of the neighborhood. It felt just like that: excited determination! I found Joey again. We sat on the floor in the hallway and talked about the event, authors, books in general, and I brought out my copy of Brittney Sahin’s The Hunted One. Brittney wasn’t at the signing, but Joey was. And I asked him to sign the dedication in the book. The dedication Brittney made to Joey. How freaking cool is that?

After gathering my strength, I ventured back into session 1 for the last time. There were so many authors still to see, and they weren’t even close to calling my numbers for Claire, Lucy, Pippa, Amy, or the narrators. But my eyes were firmly set on someone I’ve admired for a while, and had met the night before at the hotel bar: Kathryn Nolan. Kathryn is a breath of fresh air, a beautiful ray of sunshine, and an effervescent spirit of joy. She has this beautiful disposition that instantly puts you at ease and screams warmth and friendship. I was still getting over the fact that she called my blog “popular” the night before at the bar. Shit, I was still getting over the fact that she knew who I was and was familiar with my blog. But everything about her screamed genuine interest, care, and camaraderie. And you bet your ass I remembered a picture with her. Feeling fully elated after my encounter and picture with Kathryn, I wandered out into the lobby to find my Girl Gang. Because they were there and I needed to see them and regroup.

I still have so much to share with you, dear readers, but my brain is mush after the memories. So, let’s take a brief breather here, much as I did at the end of session 1, and I’ll be back with the rest of my experience after a brief intermission…