The Decatur Book Festival

So EVERYONE’S talking about the Decatur Book Festival because it was just so cool. I was proud to be a teeny part of it, especially since it was the first one ever. And I was even more excited to meet some very cool folks at the fest, including my Y.A. writing panel-mates Alan Gratz and Lauren Myracle. That’s us, speaking on the festival’s children’s stage.

And THAT’S us hanging with illustrator Elizabeth Dulemba and LaLa in Decatur’s most magical children’s book store, Little Shop of Stories. Note the scarlet letters on our chests! For "Author," not "adultery" you'll be relieved to know.

Lauren and I share the same wonderful editor at Dutton AND we both grew up in Atlanta, so of course, we immediately became buddies. Instead of one mere child like me, Lauren has THREE so I pummeled her with questions about how one manages to write good books and maybe have a life too when an entire hemisphere of one’s brain—formerly occupied with memories, logic & reason, the creativity chip, and that mysterious, wonderful mechanism that allows you to sleep more than three hours at a time—is now filled up with gooey, marshmallowey baby-love. What I got from our chat? The baby-love never diminishes. If anything, it just gets bigger and fluffier and more complex (sort of like a rice krispie treat studded with M & M’s, as opposed to a plain little marshmallow). But as time goes by, it seems sanity returns as well. At least, Lauren seems way together. Go Lauren!

And go Decatur Book Festival. It was the little upstart book fest that could. It was a class act and lots of fun and I can’t wait to go again next year.

Talk soon!

xoxo

Elizabeth