by Kathy Cannon Wiechman
A
few weeks ago, I went to the ALA (American
Library Association) Conference in Chicago .
I had never been to the conference before, and was going there to introduce my
about-to-be-released novel LIKE A RIVER.
My
flight into O’Hare was uneventful, just the way I like a flight to be. It had
been many years since I’d been to that airport, and it took me a while to get
my bearings, but soon I was in a taxi heading to my hotel.
I
wasn’t scheduled for anything until a 7 PM dinner with folks from Boyds Mills
Press, and it wasn’t even noon yet. It gave me several hours to have a reunion
with dear friends (and former Swaggers), Juliet Bond and Gina Gort. I hadn’t
seen them in over 3 years and getting reacquainted was wonderful!
 |
| Kathy (far right) reconnecting with former Swaggers in Chicago. |
Around
seven, several of the BMP folks and I walked to the Exchequer restaurant, an
old-fashioned gangland-themed place that served deep-dish pizza and ribs. The
dinner was low-key and delightful, and everyone present made sure all my needs
were met.
Snow
was forecast, though not a single flake had fallen. But I was informed that my
5:25 PM flight for Sunday afternoon had been cancelled and I had been re-booked
for a Monday morning one.
By
the time we left the restaurant, snow was beginning to fall, and I chose to
skip the walk back to the hotel in favor of sharing a cab with a few others.
Sunday
morning found me glad for the cancelled flight. Snow was still falling, or more
accurately, blowing sideways on powerful winds. The news called it “a blizzard.”
I
shared a taxi to the convention center, marveling with a bit of trepidation at
the way the driver maneuvered the cab through traffic on the snow-covered
streets.
But the conference was extraordinary! So
many booths! So many books! Just my kind of happy place. I signed Advance
Reader copies (ARCs) of LIKE A RIVER, while people apologized to me for the
small attendance. Since this was my first time, I had nothing to compare it to.
Boyds Mills Press hosted a luncheon to
introduce its Spring, 2015 catalog. My best guess estimated the attendance at
about 60, and I shared a table with some librarians from Texas . Senior Editor Liz Van Doren regaled
them with the catalog’s picture books, and Gail Jarrow followed with a talk
about her non-fiction book on Typhoid Mary (FATAL FEVER). I closed with a short
talk on LIKE A RIVER, from which I also read a few pages.
Original plans would have seen me gathering
my things together and heading to the airport, but the cancelled flight kept me
at my hotel. And my flight the next morning ended up being cancelled also.
My overnight stay in Chicago ended up being a three-nighter. But
the BMP folks took great care of me. And on Monday, I got a chance to visit
with friend Jennifer Sommer, who had driven in from Dayton on Sunday. Driven through the blizzard
that cancelled flight after flight at O’Hare! What a woman!
On Monday evening, I had a chance to
discuss revisions for my next novel with editor Carolyn Yoder, who was also
grounded an extra day by the blizzard. An unplanned productive use of time.
 |
| Kathy with Carolyn Yoder at the ALA Conference's Boyds Mill Press booth. |
I finally got a flight home on Tuesday
morning, with a not-terribly-long delay on the tarmac at O’Hare. I had books
with me to occupy my wait time. (A prepared reader seldom gets bored.)
I was glad to get home, but I have wonderful recollections of good food
and great people I spent time with. My introduction to ALA is one I will never forget.
