Oh no! I’m a fan-girl!

Ashlyn Chase

I promised myself I wouldn’t be that chick. You know the one…she fawns all over her favorite author like it will somehow rub off on her. Well, I tried not to, I really did, but I’m afraid I fawned.

At our recent Let Your Imagination Take Flight conference, our keynote speaker was Mary Janice Davidson. I love her—um, you know, her books! They’ve provided hours of pure, guilt-free escapism for me. I’ve followed her career for years and have read at least half of her four page backlist. Well, during her keynote speech, she talked about being a fan girl herself! (Really?) Apparently she was invited to a book signing with two of her idols and admitted to touching them ever chance she got. Oh no! It was at that moment, I realized I’d touched her arm a few times too! Gaaaa! I was a fan girl! Oh, and that’s not all…

One bonus of being on the conference committee is that you get to go out to dinner with all the VIPs the night before the conference. It’s a chance to relax and socialize in an informal atmosphere. Well, that evening I told MJ (I can call her MJ now) I had a book plate with her signature on it, but I didn’t stick it in a book. I set it on my desk for inspiration. She said in her typical MJ fashion, “Oh…that’s nice—creepy, but nice.”
Well, I may have been a little too informal. I shared a yummy appetizer with Brenda Novak, dropped half of it on my jersey…and double dipped! (Eek.) I told her the minute I realized it, and assured her I was healthy. You know what? She was fine with it and actually double dipped too. These wonderful best sellers are people! Good people!

I’m finally used to having Barbara Keiler, aka Judith Arnold, around. But who knew she could crack me up as much as MJ did! It was a very fun-filled, belly-filled night. But, because I’m lame, I had to be the first one to leave and go to bed at ten-thirty. I just wasn’t able to stay up past my bedtime. It was probably a good thing since I was running around the next day, setting up the raffle table, giving a workshop and moderating another one.

Even though I was on the conference committee this year, I was able to attend a couple of workshops. They were fantastic. I’m really proud of the line-up we had and how many positive comments we heard afterward. For those of you who missed it, don’t worry. It’s not too late. You can order the conference on CD! The individual workshops are very reasonable priced and the whole set is well worth it! Check out our website www.necrwa.org to find out how to order. Or put this into your browser: http://www.fleetwoodonsite.com/index.php