Miscellaneous catch-up

My friend Denise Jaden has kindly posted an interview with me on her blog. She's a master of brevity and getting straight to the point.

I'm home for a day and a half between Minneapolis and Washington, DC. In Minneapolis I learned that it's hard for an unknown author to get a good audience at a book talk unless she's on her home turf and can count on friends and family to drag people in. However, I did have some lovely chats with old friends who came to readings, and I spent a heart-warming hour with two little girls, three and eight years old, trying their hands at Tangrams, synonyms, and doing mazes in the mirror.

Tomorrow afternoon I go down to DC, where on Thursday morning I'll get to try out the whole Lexicon event - all nine stations - on a captive audience of 80 to 90 schoolchildren in their school library. This will be the first real test of whether we've put together an engaging and manageable event. I'm sure I'll learn a lot.