Tuesday, June 11, 2013

My Upcoming Schedule At The American Library Association Conference (AKA ALA)

Upcoming is a little premature, since it's not for two weeks and a couple of days, but I figured I'd tell you everything I know now, on the assumption nothing much is going to change in the next two weeks and a couple of days.

So here's my schedule:

Tuesday June 25: Get my hair cut.

Wednesday June 26: Fret about my haircut. Possibly do an emergency shampoo even though I will have just gotten a very professional one the day before. Also debate for an absurdly long time about my choice of shoes. Print the boarding pass. Do some prepacking. Unpack everything because I'll become convinced I forgot something important. Prepack again. Check the 10 day weather forecasts to confirm no blizzards are scheduled (for some reason, there's always a blizzard when I have to flight to or from O'Hare). Discover in lieu of blizzards, massive thunderstorms and tornadoes are anticipated. Shrug philosophically and prepack and unprepack again, this time with umbrellas.

Thursday June 27: Pack frantically. Tell Scooter he won't miss me one little bit. Feel guilty because I'm lying to him. Drive to the airport. Spend many hours in the airport because my flight is delayed, thanks to massive thunderstorms and tornadoes in Nome, Alaska. Maybe a volcano there too; it hardly matters. Search desperately for anyplace that sells ice cream. Go to the ladies room two or three times (depending on volcanic activity), dragging my suitcase with me as I go. Read an entire junky novel while I wait. Eventually get on the airplane and even more eventually, arrive in Chicago. Take a cab to the hotel, where no one is awaiting me. Discover there's nothing on TV that night, but channel flip for a couple of hours anyway.

Friday June 28: Eat a huge room service breakfast, if the hotel still has room service. If it doesn't, feel disappointed that I won't be able to eat a huge room service breakfast. Instead, scurry to wherever I can eat breakfast and do same. Hope my hair looks okay, since there was no time to wash it. Get picked up at 7:30 AM in the hotel lobby (fortunately for me, that'll feel like 8:30 AM). Get escorted to:

Ten Years of YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten

When: 
Friday, June 28, 2013 - 8:30am to 12:00pm
S106a
 
Description: 
 
Join YALSA for a half day preconference to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Teens’ Top Ten (TTT)! The Teens' Top Ten is a "teen choice" list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year. Learn about the program from current TTT groups, receive tips on how to run a similar program in your library, and meet authors who have appeared on the Teens’ Top Ten list (Susan Beth Pfeffer*, Cory Doctorow, Sarah Dessen, Marie Lu, and Laurie Halse Anderson).
Meeting Type: 
Content Area: 
Sponsors: 


8 comments:

Emily said...

If I were there I'd be first in line for an autograph!

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

I wish you could be there, Emily!

Mr. Cavin said...

Wow, in and out. I'm driving to Chicago from North Carolina, so my ALA footprint is considerably larger--and I don't even have a panel! Hope I manage to get into your line; but, at present, everything I need to have signed is in boxes in Europe. I'll think of something. Maybe you can sign my Kindle?

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hi Mr. Cavin,

Well, if you get to my line, they'll probably give you an ARC of The Shade Of The Moon, and I'd sign that with pleasure. You rejected the Bolivian Hat, so it would be sweet irony if you ended up with a copy anyway!

Ms. Yingling said...

I just read the Shade of the Moon--it's kind of creepy how I always end up reading these books just when horrible weather is predicted! Laughed at your remarks about haircut-- I'd be so in awe of your body of work that I guarantee I would not notice THAT! Your books are so good that you can shave your head if you liked and your readers would not care!

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hello Ms. Yingling-

Lately it feels like there's always bad weather around. It's rainy here, but I don't think we're going to get the predicted thunderstorms. Someone else will instead, I suppose.

My hair has a mind of its own, but on the whole, I'm better off keeping it than shaving it away!

Nora Durbin said...

I'll be there! Can't wait to read The Shade of the Moon.

Susan Beth Pfeffer said...

Hi Nora Durban-

I look forward to saying "Hi" in person!