I know, I know….I’m a week (or so) later than one would expect a recap to come.  But I didn’t want to pass up on the opportunity to chat about my ALA Annual Conference experience because it was just that awesome.

The librarians sure do know how to put on a show, it was fantabulous to be in my home town and be able to run into the city for awhile and then head home to cool down.  Because, you know, it was the one week of the summer so far that being in DC was akin to being in the pits of hell — temperature wise that is.

Ok, so let me get down and dirty with the highlights.

The festivities started off with the awesome Tiffany arriving!  She was my roomie for the weekend and I was excited to have her with me.  We hung out for a bit and chatted about various books and television shows before heading out for an awesome dinner in DC.  We motored into town to meet up with Liz and Melissa at their hotel where we promptly got stuck in an elevator.  I can tell you, I was not a pretty sight — being as claustrophobic as I am, this teenie tiny elevator with no ventilation on a 100 degree day was *not* how I wanted to kick off the evening.  Think of me clawing at the doors and then multiply it by ten y’all, it was not pretty.  Good news is we got out and the ladies were good sports about my freak out (thanks girls!).  Afterwards, we headed over to Oyamel where there were alcoholic beverages imbibed and much food taken in.  But the highlight was the awesome conversation.

We didn’t stay out too late though because Friday was also set to be a really big (think long) day.

I was so blessed to have had the chance to organize a meet up with the amazing Kami Garcia and Margie Stohl of Beautiful Creatures fame.  Set to meet at a really great restaurant called Teaism a lovely group of bloggers/librarians had the opportunity to hang out and chat with the ladies about their road to publication, the differences between US and international blogging, amazing swag, and the occasional life experience.  To say that these ladies were gracious was an understatement but more than that they were HI-lar-ious!  Seriously, their combined sense of humor had me laughing my ass off.  I definitely think they should go for writing a comedy at some point.

Thanks to Tiffany for the picture I stole. Oh and check out Liz’s Team Peeta t-shirt. LOVE!!

I was scheduled to go to the Pre-Conference session titled Promoting Teen Reading with Web 2.0 Tools but was feeling a tad under the weather and knew I wanted to make the evening festivities so I sadly bowed out and took some time to relax at home.  You can catch great recaps at Cazzy Files and A Chair, A Fireplace and A Tea Cozy as well as through the hashtag for the event #yalsareading.

After browsing the opening session at the Exhibits Hall, Friday evening also had us hanging out with amazing authors, bloggers, librarians and just about anyone else you can think of at KidLit Drink Night.  RFD was *packed* solid with people boozing it up, enjoying the occasional hors d’eurves and gabbing away.  It was hot, we were exhausted, but we toughed it out for about two hours before heading home to collapse in the chilly a/c of home.  I was glad to catch up with a few friends I’d met at KidlitCon (Terry, Jennifer), see some friends I’ve met online in person (Sara, Carrie) and introduce myself some new ones (Kelly, Rebecca, Madigan).  It was a bit loud, but the Kidlit folks sure do put on a good party!

Saturday had me walking around the aforementioned exhibit hall.  I was there for a few hours and then came home to cool down and relax for a bit before heading back into town for dinner with a fabulous group of people.  Tiffany outdid herself in planning a great meet up at Austin Grill where there were about 20ish of us all torturing the poor wait staff.  Really, I kid you not, they were definitely ready for us to go when we did! LOL

In attendance were, Sarah and her husband, Kelly and her husband, Tiffany, Katie, Drea, Carrie, Harmony and her aunt, James, Stephanie Kuehnart, Jeri Smith-Ready, Holly Cupala, and Amy Brecount White.

Sunday brought with it more time in the exhibit hall, but not until after I attended the Children’s and Young Adult Book Blogs: Enhancing Library Services session.  Pam, Liz and Travis did a great job talking about the children’s and YA blogosphere and how we all have the ability to contribute to the professional and collection development (among a long list of other things) for librarians.  When I find a recap of the I’ll be sure to come back and link it up here.

I’m not going to embarrass myself with the list of stash I walked away from ALA with.  I will tell you though, that I had the intention of walking away with no more than five “must have” books.  Ummmm, yea, not so much.  I was on the receiving end of those five books and so many more!  Seriously, it’s totally embarrassing, no mortifying.  Great stuff ahead for the blog though!

If I tried to write up a summary of everything I think you all would be bored to tears, not to mention filled with loathing for having to wade through it all.  Suffice it to say I had a great time!  I met great people, saw great bloggers I’d met at BEA (I was in fact informed that I may have had this ability to just magically materialize to chat with people on the exhibition floor), and in general felt very fulfilled professionally speaking.  ALA’s conferences are something I’ll continue to keep my eye on and if I can make it I’m definitely going to add it to my list of great events to join in on.

It’s me again!  Your resident giveaway announcer, haha!

It’s time for me to announce two lucky winners each to receive a copy of Meg Cabot’s Insatiable. I was very fortunate to have received my review copy this week so I look forward to reading and reviewing it myself in the not too distant future.

Tara Stone Gill	Emily Ellsworth

Both winners have 48 hours to contact me via email with their shipping information to claim their prize. Should I not hear from a winner in that time period I will select an alternate.

Congratulations to you both, I’ve heard great things about this book.  And, honestly, it’s Meg Cabot who’s fabulous!

Kristin Harmel is the author of  Italian for Beginners from Grand Central Publishing’s 5-Spot.  Landing in bookstores this Thursday, August 13th, in preparation for the book’s release she graciously agreed to answer some questions for Galleysmith readers leading into my review to be posted tomorrow.

Please give Kristin a warm welcome!

—-

Q: What was your inspiration for Italian for Beginners?
KH: I spent a summer several years ago living in Europe, and during that time, I took several memorable trips to Italy and in fact had a wonderful summer romance with an Italian man named Marco, on whom the Marco character of the book is based. There was something very magical about Italy for me; I spent time in Venice, Rome and all through Tuscany, and it really stayed with me. Last year, I wrote a novel called The Art of French Kissing, which was based in Paris (where I used to live), and I had so much fun traveling back there on the page that I realized I wanted to do so again with another city that had captured my imagination. Rome, with its perfect blend of past and present, seemed a perfect fit for a story about a woman who has to come to terms with the mysteries of her past before she’s able to truly live in the moment.

Q: What was the most difficult part of writing this novel?
KH: I think it’s always tough when you set out to write a novel to come up with a story and characters that really work. But once I started to get to know Cat Connelly, the main character of Italian for Beginners, I found that the story just flowed. In fact, in that regard, this might have been the easiest book to write so far (and I’ve written six). There’s something very magical to me about Rome, where most of the book takes place, so once I created the characters of Cat, her new Italian friend Karina, Cat’s ex-boyfriend Francesco and the Italian restaurant owner Marco, it was just a matter of setting them in motion in the Eternal City and seeing where they took me. I knew I wanted Cat to tackle some pretty tough issues from her past, related to the death of her mother, so that might have been the hardest part of the book for me from an emotional standpoint. As a writer, you have to truly crawl into the head of your main character, so when I had to put Cat in situations that were difficult or hurtful for her, they were also very hard for me, because I had to feel her pain in order to write about it.

Q: I know you write novels in the young adult genre as well, does your process differ?  Do you have a preference for writing one genre over the other?
KH: That’s a great question. You’re right; I’ve written two young adult novels, When You Wish, which came out last year, and After, which comes out in February 2010. The process of writing young adult novels is very similar for me; it’s all about coming up with compelling characters and setting them at the beginning of a journey that will change their lives in some meaningful way. My young adult novels tend to be shorter than my women’s fiction, and the topics they tackle are, of course, different (because the topics that appeal to a teen audience are generally different from the ones that strike a chord with women in their 20s through 40s), but I try to inject a similar note of hopefulness, and I try to imbue all of my main characters with a true zest for life that comes through even when they’re confused or going through a dark period in their lives.

I don’t particularly have a preference for one genre over the other, but the nice thing about writing for young adults is that it gives me the opportunity to go visit high schools and middle schools to talk to kids. I really, really like having a platform to speak with –and hopefully inspire – young people. I also think that teens and tweens are still trying to figure out who they are at that age, so if I can impart some helpful lessons in the pages of an entertaining book, I feel good about that.

Then again, I think a lot of women in my age group – myself included – are also in the process of figuring out who we are, so I think I have the chance to impart some helpful life lessons in my women’s fiction too. It’s just an honor, I think, in any genre, to be able to touch people in some way with my words, characters and stories.

Q: If you could revisit a character you’ve created in one of your novels who would it be and why?
KH: Ooh, great question. I think I’d like to check back in with Claire Reilly, the main character of my first novel, How to Sleep With a Movie Star, which came out in February 2006. I wrote that book in 2003-04, which feels like a very long time ago now, and I find myself thinking about her from time to time. At the end of that novel, she’s just about to enter a new phase of her life (You’ll have to read the book to see what I mean!), and I think it would be really fun to write a short story or even another novel to see what happens to her. Of the six main characters I’ve written about across my six novels, she’s probably the one who’s the most similar to me (as is often the case with writers’ first novels, I think), so from a personal standpoint, it would also be nice to know that life has worked out well for her.

Q: What are you currently working on?
KH: I’m drafting outlines for a new young adult novel and a new women’s fiction novel, I’m writing for People magazine, and I’m teaching a “how to write a novel” class for Mediabistro.com. Also, believe it or not, I’m ghostwriting the autobiography of rock’n’roll legend Chubby Checker, which is turning into one of the greatest adventures of my life so far. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’ve come to adore Chubby or how much I value the surprisingly deep friendship that has formed between us. His story is a fascinating one, and I’m thrilled and honored to be working with him as the 50th anniversary of The Twist, his 1960 hit which Billboard magazine named recently as the #1 song of all time, approaches.

Q: What is your most recent read?
KH: I am just about to begin reading Jane Porter’s latest, Easy on the Eyes. I love Jane, both as a person and as a writer; she’s wonderfully intuitive and kind and creates absolutely beautiful, moving, inspiring stories. I’m also hooked on the Sookie Stackhouse novels (by Charlaine Harris) that the HBO show True Blood is based on. I absolutely love True Blood, and reading the books is such a guilty pleasure; I get a glimpse into the futures of Sookie and her sexy vampire boyfriend, Bill. They’re quick, easy reads that I would highly recommend!

Q: Is there a character in a novel you wish you created?  Why?
KH: Hmm. Another great question! Like so many other women, I adore the character of Bridget Jones and think that Helen Fielding did an absolutely wonderful job in creating her.  I also think that Jane Porter, Emily Giffin, Liza Palmer, Megan Crane, Melissa Senate, Brenda Janowitz, Alison Pace, Sarah Mlynowski, Lynda Curnyn, and so many of my fellow writers do an absolutely amazing job of creating characters who are easy to identify with and fall in love with. I wish I could narrow it down to just one fictional character I would have liked to have created, but the truth is, I have a ton of admiration for the wonderful characters so many of my peers have developed!

Q: What is a day in the life of Kristin Harmel like?
KH: Long, but fun! I’m generally juggling a million projects at once, and since my organizational skills leave much to be desired, I absolutely swear by the daily checklist I write out for myself the night before. I generally start with a cup of coffee and a quick check of my email. Then, if I’m in the midst of writing a novel, I tend to write from 7 or 8 a.m. until noon or 1. Then I switch gears and work on People magazine stuff, as well as other magazine assignments that have rolled in. I usually do a bit of work each day on Chubby Checker’s book – always fun – and I take a little while each day to reply to emails from fans, readers, etc. Lately, I’ve had my current favorite CD, Jerry Cherry’s “Life is Sweeter…”, playing in the background as I work; I love music, and a great “soundtrack” to my day really inspires me. I love to cook, so I often take a break around 6 or 7 to make dinner. Sometimes, I call it a day after that (and often go out for cocktails with friends, or have friends over for a glass of wine; My favorite to serve is Little Black Dress pinot grigio.); other days, I work until 10 or 11 p.m. on promotional stuff, emails, magazine articles, etc. On Mondays, I teach my Mediabistro class online from 9-10 p.m., and I also spend a lot of time during the week commenting on students’ assignments.

That’s just a typical day at home, though. I also travel frequently, for work and for pleasure, and when I do, my daily schedule is all over the map!

–

For more information on Kristin please visit her website at http://www.kristinharmel.com and on her fan page on Facebook.

I want to take a moment to personally thank Kristin for taking the time out of her busy schedule to answer my questions.   I strongly encourage you to not only pick up Italian for Beginners (reviewed here tomorrow) but also any and all of her previous work.

Morning all! Hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday.

I’m creating this post to claim my spot on Technorati so feel free to disregard it

Technorati Profile

I’m working today to get my blog set up so that I can use this crude version until my custom design is completed.

I’m working with a wonderful designer at http://www.betterinpink.com to create something fun and unique but likely won’t be implemented until early July.  I’m very excited to see what she comes up with and hope you all enjoy it as well once we get it up and running.