What fun! 
I got to hear my table mate, Gary Buettner, make his pitch for a middle grade book about a girl caring for Dracula’s kitty. I made my own passionate case for a book about a foot race from L.A. to N.Y. in 1928. Happily, the details of the story came flooding back, as if I had written it yesterday. (Well, not exactly. Several facts had passed into fuzziness, and I had to plead uncertainty.) It was rewarding to pique the interest of at least a large handful of the browsers.
I sat on a panel with C. F. Payne, Julie Rubini, and Mary Kay Carson. Afterward, I asked questions of Margaret Peterson Haddix. I was intrigued by her latest book which takes place in Madrid. She signed a copy for me to give to my niece, a native of the Spanish capital. Julie Rubini introduced me to Michelle Houts, whom I spoke to about Ohio University Press’s Biographies for Young Readers. I was delighted to browse her web page after I returned home. Julie has written for this series, too, and I am exploring her books, as well as her long-running book festival, Claire’s Day.
5:00 pm! I was exhausted. I drove up to Ohio State’s campus to pick up my son, a freshman there. I took him back to the 
Statehouse and we both enjoyed the evening reception: good food, good company, interesting tour of the capitol.
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