Random Musings

It wasn’t a meltdown, per se.

In my last blog I talked about the forthcoming event. About the fact that I’m an introvert, and conferences like this one take me completely out of my element.

Both of those facts remained true.

After dropping off lots of event paraphernalia at the Library on Friday, we headed to the New Foresters for a pre-event drinks meet up. About twenty people were there; nineteen authors and one brave reader. There was plenty of laughter and chatting, though there was, of course, the awkward introduction moments too. By the time we all left, though, it was good.

I was drunk, too, which helped. I don’t drink, generally, so two pints of Guinness tipped me over the edge and had me feeling far less self-conscious than usual. Chatting with audiobook narrator Hope Newhouse and her entourage, Leo, along with Matt Bright and ‘Nathan Burgoine, set me at ease. Meeting authors I’ve only ever met online was great too, and I can only hope they didn’t see me as an ultimate weirdo.

I am, of course, going over every conversation I had throughout the event and second guessing every word that came out of my mouth. I’m wincing at pictures that make me look like a spotty old person, and smiling at the pictures and videos that author Jo Fletcher put up showing how truly fabulous the event was. (She also did a kick ass job moderating!)

I love working with writers. They’re a funky bunch, a group of outcasts and outspoken lovers of all things word. It was an eclectic mix, and there was plenty of discussion about how to make it even more eclectic and inclusive. We’re going to work on that.

On Sunday, I was pretty much just a snail without a shell. Mushy, slow, and vulnerable. I was awake early to have breakfast with a couple author friends staying with us, and then we had lunch with other author friends passing through. I was just about awake for all of that. But when we got home, we went to bed and I slept until dinner time. I was utterly useless for the rest of the night as well. My wife was fine with me sliding into the bath while she took care of unloading all the event stuff and packing it away until we head to Leicester Pride in September.

It was a lot of peopling.

I tried to check in on the people in the crowd I know aren’t peopling people, to make sure they were hanging in there too. Because, as I suspected, there were a whole lot of us in Boat Imposter Syndrome, which was getting hit with waves of Be Outgoing.

But we did it. All of us. And the day was truly fantastic. Lots of books were sold and signed and connections were made and reinforced. This is a community of people I’m proud to be a part of. Long may it continue.

Here is the program. If you want to Google the authors and connect with the in whatever social media platform you use, that would be great. Our community is stronger for the connections we create.