Starstruck

That stuff I said yesterday about becoming a hermit for a while? It's going to have to wait until next week. I forgot what a busy week this is. My church choir is doing our "Prelude to the Fourth" program Thursday night (the big patriotic concert), which means rehearsal Wednesday and the performance Thursday (if you're in the Dallas area and want a rousing good time, it's at 7 p.m. at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church -- the old church on the corner of Oak Lawn and Cedar Springs). And tonight is Sarah Bird's booksigning.

When I mentioned reading her last book a couple of weeks ago and worried about whether or not she'd be open to signing one of her older books, I soon got an e-mail from my editor. It turns out my editor knows her and was having lunch with her the next week. My editor assured me that Sarah would be happy to sign anything, and since they were having lunch, she'd tell her to look out for me at the signing. Eeek! I'm trying to get over the whole starstruck thing because every time I've met one of my favorite authors, I've ended up getting along fine with them after the first burst of nervousness.

I also have to admit to being kind of curious about the turnout. She's a fairly well-known author, especially in Texas, and she got some good publicity. Her new book was reviewed in the newspaper this weekend, with a mention of the signing, and she had a humorous column in the paper, also mentioning the signing (it turns out she angsts over what to wear for signings, too). Now I want to see if that makes a big difference, or if getting people to a signing around here is like pulling teeth for everyone.

And since I'm going out tonight, that means I have to work this afternoon. Next week will have to be my week to stay in the cave.