Last week was a blast! I’m only barely recovered, but here are the highlights.

I finally made it out to the Emerald City Writer’s Conference. My good friend, author MG Braden, has been urging me to go for years now. It’s the largest RWA conference on the west coast and I can’t recommend it enough. Well-organized, great speakers, and a raffle extravaganza that whips everyone into a shopping frenzy–and it’s all for a good cause too!

MG Braden and me at lunch

I didn’t have a workshop at this conference, so it was nice to be able to enjoy the workshops and the signing. It was my very first signing and I may have done a little dance when I first came up to my table and saw the books stacked and ready.

I whip out the official chop for my first autograph

It went very well! I got to chat with a lot of people — several who had judged Butterfly Swords and remembered it from contests over two years ago.

The conference food was pretty good, though not so photogenic, so I didn’t get any great food pics a la Cindy Pon’s blog. However, I did snap one of the official ECWC drink: The Bodice Ripper.

The Bodice Ripper is posing besides the conference’s true star drink, the Lemon Drop. Best Lemon Drop Ever. It was later responsible for a short bout of karaoke that evening. You have to understand, I’d had my first book signing. Butterfly Swords had sold out. The Lemon Drops at the Bellevue Hilton use freshly squeezed lemon juice with the perfect balance of sugar and vodka. After two of them, I felt on “Top of the World” — Which is the song I proceeded to try to sing on stage.

Jeannie Lin and MG Braden live and unrehearsed

Note the skeptical look that the DJ is casting us. These new experiences keep me humble…

After the conference, I flew to Northern California to visit my sister. Where apparently I said hello to Little Sis and her husband, and proceeded to direct the rest of my attention to their cat. I hadn’t seen Ollie in months and he’d gotten skinny. Apparently they finally allowed him outdoors and it’s amazing how much a little exercise will do for an oversized tabby.

All my pictures of the Norcal trip consisted of cat and cupcakes. I’m firing myself as a photographer.

I returned home at the end of the week for my first local signing at Rose’s Bookshop. Another wonderfully supportive crowd!

Amanda Berry, Maggie Mae Gallagher, Sunita from DA, and myself

And did I mention the cake?

I think Wendy from Rose’s purposefully found the biggest knife possible to put beside the cake

That evening, Dear Author hosted a book chat about Butterfly Swords. I attended the first part for a Q&A with readers. I was nervous at first, but it was an absolute dream. All I ever wanted was for people to read and discuss my book. *sniffle* I bugged out for the second half so everyone could continue to kibitz without me. I haven’t checked out the rest of the transcript, but you can replay the Dear Author book chat if you missed it.

I’m giving myself a little rest before I check out the last part. According to a few little birdies, there was some discussion about how Butterfly Swords should have ended. Beware spoilers!

And there was one special little birdy waiting for me when I got home:

Hubby got a hold of one of my bookmarks and did a bit of arts and crafts to show me I had a fan at home. Life is very, very good.

I’ve uploaded my ECWC pics to Facebook. You can also check out the Rose’s Bookhouse signing album.

Next booksigning is at the MORWA October meeting where I’ll be signing beside Jim and Shannon Butcher. Yes, THE Jim and Shannon Butcher. Full disclosure: I intend to Photoshop their long line of fans onto my table in post-production. I got skillz and I’m going to use them. (The photos included in this post have not been retouched in any way.)