Thanks to a good friend I have been invited into a wonderful group of readers. This group of readers, who shall remain Anonymous, is a wonderful mix of authors, publishers, editors, and, of course, romance enthusiasts! They always seem to have their fingers on the pulse of anything book related and are always trying to get to book signings and conventions. If it weren't for this group I would not have been standing on a chilly sidewalk in Boston this past Saturday.
On Saturday March 16th the Boston Author Event was held at the Omni Parker House in, well, Boston. Thanks to my aforementioned friend, I was registered and shuttled down. I really had no idea what to expect so I was looking forward to it but I hadn't really thought much about it.
A lot of authors there were indie authors, and I have to say that I have not read a single book from any of them. I was not dissuaded by this, it didn't really matter that I hadn't read any of the authors there. I was excited that I was going to get a short afternoon away from the kids and be surrounded by other reading freaks (said with love, ladies)! I also thought it would be a great opportunity to hob knob with some people who have been where I am now and remind myself that they did it and so can I.
Amy, my friend, had registered us a while back. The event was going to be scheduled from noon to 4pm and we had an arrival time of 2pm. Amy and I have never done anything like this before. Yep, total noobs! We figured since they gave us an arrival time we should be able to get in either right at that time or pretty close to it.
Amy picked me up at 1 and off we went! We were both giddy about our upcoming adventure. We chatted happily on the way down and Amy was giving me the run down of what she planned to accomplish while she was there. She had to deliver wax (she sells Sentsy) to one author, she had a bottle of wine for another, she wanted to finally meet one of the authors she beta read for and pick up a book she had pre-ordered from yet another. This was all not counting the few other books she had with her to be signed by authors planning to attend. She was like the ever prepared boy scout heading out into the wilderness to survive on her know-how and gumption. Me, I felt like the slacker kid who shows up to the camping trip wearing all the wrong clothes and without the proper supplies.
It was ok. I just told myself, and Amy, that I was going to ride her wave and be happy for the experience.
Oh boy, did that pay off for me.
Just before 2pm I am navigating Amy toward the Omni Parker House and we lucked out and found a parking garage pretty close to where we were supposed enter reader heaven!
We pulled into the parking garage and hopped out. I hoisted my purse up onto my shoulder, Amy did the same. Then she hauled out her boy scout preparedness supplies, aka the tote bag full of stuff she brought with her. OH and did I mention that the tote bag was actually from the event itself? For our convenience there was a list of all the authors present at the event printed in a lovely teal color right under Amy's elbow!
We move into the elevator, the excitement building. We thought we were going to have to walk a few blocks to get where we needed to be. I started punching in the address in my phone to get the walking directions. We picked a door to walk out of a very opulent looking lobby. As soon as we walk out the door we can see the Omni Parker House. It was across the street! We couldn't have found better parking if we tried!
That was the good news, the bad news was, the line was stretched all the way down the block and around the corner. Amy and I looked at each other. It was going to be quite a wait. We should have come much, much earlier.
As we were walking down the line Amy spotted a few friends of hers from the group. After a quick chat we felt we had better take our place in line if we had any hope of getting in!
We quickly discovered that the line queued up next to the Beantown Pub. That's right, an Irish Pub... on Saturday... March 16th... In Boston!
At least we were thoroughly entertained by the endless amount of people walking by in green clothes, orange wigs, funny hats, headbands, glasses and any other St. Patrick's Day novelties you can think off. Most of the wearers of all this regalia were heavily intoxicated. I could probably write an entire blog entry on just what we saw and heard but I won't. If you really want to know, ask. :-)
As we stood in line and realized there was a distinct possibility that we may not get in to see anyone, we were starting to come up with a Plan B. This plan mostly consisted of joining the celebrations at one of the dozen or so Irish Pubs we passed on our way in. We started to do something that I have heard many people say happens when waiting in line for things like this. We stuck up a conversation with 2 ladies standing in line behind us.
I have read blogs of people who attend conventions of all kinds and have even heard from some of my convention going friends that the excitement and shared love of the same thing spark heartfelt discussions and quick friendships. I have never really experienced anything like this.
After some time the duo behind us was joined by a third. We found out that 2 of the ladies were budding authors. One, Mina Vaughn, has a book coming out in August. Another, Daisy Prescott, was in edit for her book and the third, Traci Olsen, works for a romance publishing company!
Here I was standing in line waiting to meet authors and other people in the book writing world and I was lucky enough to be standing right next to a few in line.
We had some wonderful conversations and even spanned topics like cosplay and videogames, though I'm sure Amy wasn't so excited about those. :-)
We shared some writing stories, I learned what a Geoduck was, we all offered to shoo event squatters away if any of the ladies were signing books at an event, and we all struggled to stay warm standing in a man made windtunnel.
The afternoon started to get late and some of the organizers of the event started walking the line asking if people were interested in seeing just one or two of the authors. Worrying that we may not be able to get in at all if we didn't take this offer I let Amy pick two authors off her tote and jumped at the next opportunity to get in.
We found out that we would be escorted in, we would see the 2 authors we picked and then we would be walked right back out again. They were having a hard time with occupancy maximums, excited attendees hanging around and organizers who were a little too nice to shoo people along. Pair all of that with a larger number of attendees than planned for and you have a recipe for long lines and long waits.
Amy was able to see almost everyone she wanted to see. She didn't meet the author she bought the wine for, but don't worry, we didn't let it go to waste! After waiting in line for 2.5 hours we were really only inside for about 10 minutes.
Please don't take anything I say the wrong way. I had a blast! I now know what people talk about when they say they spent hours sitting in line but had the best time! It really has to do with the people you end up next to in line.
We also had some lessons learned. Next time we will be earlier to get in line, we'll bring more line provisions like snacks and extra mittens, and we will be sure to strike up conversations with those around us in hopes of meeting people just as great as the ones we met in line this year.
Amy, thanks for taking me along on your adventure! I had so much fun. To the ladies I met in line, I wish you all the best of luck and I hope we continue to stay in contact. I want to read all your books or pre-read anything that you're willing to float out there!
To the organizers of the Boston Author Event. Great job getting the authors in town and letting us all know about it. I'll see you next year! And next time I'll be sure to read books from a few of the authors.
Scouts honor!
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