As many of you may or may not remember I headed off to Boston on July 28th for the Karsten Knight Wildefire Launch Party in Framingham. I sadly almost did not make it! Its true! You see I've never been North. I do mean that quite literally--I haven't even been to North New Jersey. Farthest I've been in Binghamton, NY and that was years and years ago (most of which was spent inside the hotel and some sort of fried chicken restaurant that I swear made me think I was down in the deep south).
I was terrified of going that far north since I had no clue about the geography of the area. I kind of like knowing where everything I need is within a 20 mile radius. I don't like being at other people's mercy. I may have almost canceled my trip four or five times. But I held fast and said 'Remember--you get to see your friends!' and that bolstered me a bit.
To the North!
I got on the Amtrak around 9:45am, and nearly cried because there were no open seats until the very last car. A nice lady, who might have been a lawyer I sneaked a peek at what she was doing and she was reviewing Case notes, complimented me on my outfit and we sat in peaceful silence until she got off in NYC. From there until New Haven, CT I sat by myself and watched 'Game of Thrones' or read 'Luck of the Devil' by Patricia Eimer on my e-reader.
Plus texting and tweeting. Lots of that.
We arrived in Boston South station around 3:20, on schedule and the great manhunt for Lexie began! First, I want to point out that you should NEVER EVER tell me to follow the light. I did. Almost right off the platform onto the tracks. This was Assassination Attempt #1 on my life for the weekend.
I eventually found my way out and...instantly grew disoriented, confused and otherwise horrified because I remembered--never been to Boston! And Boston is not like Philly or New York City or Atlanta or Baltimore (the four cities I know pretty well). Or hell even Austin, Dallas or Houston (three cities I got to know moderately well). It did however smell nice? I don't know why and I'm sure I sound weird saying that but it smelled pretty :shrugs:
Its time for my
New England Entourage
New England Entourage
Nikki (Wicked Awesome Books), Danielle (Frenzy of Noise) and Emily (Red House Books) were all coming to pick me up. So we began the 'where are you?' game. Several times during this game concerned citizens asked me if I had lost my parents because I looked so lost. That was new, I'm used to being ignored in a city environment. By the third person I was ready to scream however.
Eventually I was found and joyous times were had. We headed off to the Barnes and Noble where the Launch was to take place, found it and decided to get some food at UNO's. That was some kind of special since everyone was like 'What should I get?!' and I just sat back with a smile (there are some advantages to having to quickly choose a dish before your siblings steal it out from under you on the menu). The food was good--if a bit salty on my stuff (I got the herb-crust chicken, skinless bake and steamed seasonal vegs) and we contemplated what we wanted to do.
At the Store
We went to the Barnes and Noble and pretty much derp'ed around (this is more or less what 'derp' means), playing the 'Have you read this?' game in the Young Adult section. I picked up a few recs this way and added them to my wishlist. Those of us who needed to buy Wildefire
We eventually ran into other people we know--Cindy (Books Complete Me), Sarah (who's blog I forgot to write down I'm so sorry!), Kim Harrington (author of Clarity), Gail (Ticket to Anywhere) and Jen (Twilight Lexicon) and there was chattering. Then Karsten showed up and Lexie did what Lexie does best--clammed up and hid amongst the books.
Which Emily kept calling me on :sigh:
The Man, the Myth, the Book
Anyhow as for the reading/signing itself! Karsten was his usual witty self-deprecating self (to see the a video of his intro check out his post here). He told us stories of why he's terrified of public speaking (I feel bad for guys honestly, women's voices don't tend to crack with puberty), the genesis of why he began writing Wildefire and where the idea came from (it did NOT include an actual volcano or his death-defying attempts to outrun hot lava sadly). RL Stine was a big influence of young Karsten--point in fact he met the man in the bookstore we sat in years and years ago. And he wished that Across the Universe by Beth Revis had been around when he was younger (to which many of us agreed).
As for the reading he gave us two choices--funny/romantic or spooky. NO ONE raised their hand (and there was at least 50 of us) for funny/romantic. To which Karsten quipped 'So love is dead...ok' and read us the first time Ash encounters the mysterious, creepy 'Cloak' creatures.
After the reading he had to get to signing. We were in the beginning of the line (that is Emily and me) and while Emily managed to banter I managed to barely smile at him when he thanked me for making the long trek. I had a funny thing to say! I think I managed 'of course I would be here' instead, in a mumbling fashion. He was wearing this...it wasn't awful, but it was kind of um eye-catching pineapples, big white flowers and pastel blue Hawaiian shirt. Pineapples are my greatest enemy (next to the Sun) as they tend to kill me on contact (this would be Assassination Attempt #2 for the weekend).
Emily wanted to get a picture with Karsten so we all went off to the side and talked amongst ourselves while chomping down Danielle's cookies (chocolate cake batter and coconut--best. idea. ever.) and letting everyone get their turn for signing. Some interesting stories were told and I physically restrained myself from going over to a young lady who had on a bright pink shirt. It was the EXACT STYLE I needed for a cosplay I was putting together and let me tell you making that collar and shirt cut would be HELL to make so I really just wanted to buy one. A high stiff collar, v-neck and cap sleeves...well mostly it would will be hell to make the collar I think? I'm a lazy cosplayer.
But that would have been uber-weird right? Right.
We got our picture (forthcoming, Emily has it on her camera) and then we...derp'ed a bit more before going down to the John Harvard.
How Lexie got her Drink On
So the John Harvard is kind of interesting in that it has stained glass windows of JFK being depicted as a Saint. No seriously, they do. I keep forgetting that the Kennedy's are nigh onto a Dynastic Royalty in some places.
We sat down and since we had oodles of time before I had to be at the airport, decided to chillax with some drinks. I got the Honey Ginger Golden Ale and got about a third into it when I realized I couldn't drink anymore. See I did something stupid, I didn't wear my wrist brace OR my sling because I didn't want to ruin my pretty outfit. My wrist HURT and I do mean HURT like the living dickens by the time we got to the John Harvard.
And I couldn't take a painkiller right then--and look like a zombie fresh from the grave?!--so I had to take it before I got on the plane. But I couldn't take it with alcohol. :sigh: So my lovely drink went to ruin. Though as it turned out even a third of it kind of got me giddy. Hanging with my New England Entourage was fun times; outside of blogging I don't really get to geek out about books or make a random comment (like about Awaken) and have someone else say 'I know what you mean!' and discuss it with me.
Getting me to the airport...is a different story entirely :)
