The pandemic has really cut down on the amount of writing-related travel I’ve ben able to do over the last year and a half. So when the opportunity arose to speak on a panel at the Lubbock Book Festival, I was excited to volunteer. There is just something that makes my heart happy about hanging out with book people. And since the festival took place in the public library, we were surrounded by shelves of books. The perfect atmosphere!
Panels are always a lot of fun to participate in since they afford a more casual setting and there is little prep required on my part. I just have to show up and talk about writing. Easy peasy. What made this panel even more fun was that I got to share the stage with one of my blogging buddies from Petticoats & Pistols, Linda Broday. I hadn’t seen her in person in several years, so being able to hug her neck was a delight.
My favorite part of the day, however, was getting to meet three of my loyal readers. What a joy! Valri is on my influencer team and is always a hoot to visit with.
Francis was the sole man brave enough to attend the romance panel, and he even asked questions! What a gentleman hero. It turns out we share an alma mater, both of us having graduated from ACU. How fun to discover that! Then there was Kristie Gilliam. Kristie is the reader I met in Lubbock several years ago whose husband asked me to name a character in her honor as a romantic gesture. She became Christie Gilliam, Seth Hamilton’s love interest in More Than Meets the Eye. You can read more about how that came to be here.
It wasn’t until I returned home that I discovered I missed the highlight of the event since I didn’t arrive until mid-afternoon. Children’s author S.J. Dahlstrom rode his horse into the library . . . twice! What a fabulous promotion tool. I think I need to hire him to play one of Hanger’s Horsemen at my next book signing. Ha!
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever seen or done in a library?
Who are your favorite book people to hang out with?
Latest posts by Karen Witemeyer (see all)
- An Ode to Some Like It Scot - May 15, 2025
- Karen’s Favorites - May 4, 2025
- Spring Reading Bouquet - May 1, 2025
What a fantastic post! It’s always neat to see one of your favorite authors in person, happy your readers got to experience it. Thank you for letting us partake of it too. Blessings!
It was a fun day for sure, Stacy. Meeting readers is always such a treat!
What a fun event! I LOVE having opportunities to interact face-to-face with fellow writers and readers.
I agree, Becky! It’s good to get out of the writing cave every now and then and interact with real people. 🙂
This isn’t really that unusual, but it is the most memorial thing our family has done with the library. After returning home from a four-week trip, we found our cat, Chester, had been living the good life while my mom took care of her. She had so many extra treats that she had almost doubled in size and could barely fit through her cat door! But she was absolutely beautiful. She had very long hair and her extra size really worked with all that fur. My five-year-old son and I had planned on attending our library’s first and only children’s pet show the day we returned, and taking Chester. Will still did it, and when we took her out of the cat carrier, all the other children oohed and ahhed when they caught sight of her. Chester ended up winning “The Prettiest Pet” award that day, and neither my son or I have ever forgotten it!
FYI: After a bit of time back on her regular diet, Chester returned to her normal size and was able to go in and out of her cat door with ease.
What a fun story, Becky! Cats and books just seem to go together naturally, so it makes purrfect sense that Chester would win an award in a Library sponsored pet show. 🙂
What a fun event! I can’t really think of any unusual things I’ve seen in a library. However, when my daughter lived in Long Beach, she took my grandson to a monthly event where the children read to dogs. It was a great way to encourage children to read and not be self-conscious.
What a wonderful idea! Some creative librarian should get a gold star for that one. 🙂
It’s Matthew Hanger! What fun! (Hope that horse didn’t do his business in the library …) Yes, very much miss getting together in person with the writing tribe, just observing, learning, and finding other history geeks. The last time my writing chapter was really together was January 2020 for our annual holiday party – where the main topic of discussion was the RWA implosion. Glad you got to enjoy that library event and meet your readers!
From what I understand, the cowboy’s young son trailed after him with a bucket just in case. Ha!