Visitors in town

So, writers go to conferences and stuff. And they get to know each other, and sometimes they don't live very close to each other, so they don't actually see each other very often. And on the rare occasions when they're in the same place, they tend to like to get together. At least, I do.

So, when I tell you that a writer friend of mine was in Houston last night--which isn't exactly in town, but is a heck of a lot closer than Auckland, New Zealand, where she lives--I drove up to spend a little time visiting.

Nalini Singh is a NYT bestselling author, who's just had her first book published in hardcover. Kiss of Snow is a great book, and I'm delighted that she's doing so well. Still, the idea of driving into Houston--not through it, but onto the streets and trying to find a particular address and then a parking place, gave me the heebie-jeebies. I handle freeway traffic much better than I do streets with traffic lights, especially when I'm not real sure where I'm going. I almost backed out. More than once.

But I really wanted to go. I'm not going to the RWA conference this year--mostly because I just didn't get around to signing up--and the thing I miss most is seeing all the friends I only see once a year. So I gutted it up, and took the Beast (my vehicle is a very large SUV. Very. Large.) into the big city--and I actually found the store! And a place to park!! And I didn't get lost!!!

I got there quite a bit early, because if you don't get off the road by 5 p.m. or so, you have to deal with a LOT more traffic. But there were other paranormal romance fans at the store, and it was fun to chat with them about books and authors. I was even able to recommend my books to a couple of people. I didn't want to do too much of that, because it was Nalini's night and I wasn't going to steal any spotlight (not that I could...).

The plane was a little late--she had to come straight to the bookstore, but it was great to listen to her talk about her books and writing process. Then we went out to dinner and got to chat some, which was great. Then I had to go home. It was getting late, and it's close to an hour to get back to the island--without traffic. It was a great evening. I wish she'd had a little more time in town--she flew out this morning--but it was fun.