This week, a friend invited me and thirteen other middle-aged chicks to her house for a night of food, fun, and Bunco. (Which, for me, is like saying, Margaritas, Mojitos, and Root Canal. I loathe Bunco. But I like this woman very much and I’d never seen her house, so…)

When I walked in the front door, the first thing I saw, displayed on a table, was a stuffed fox. No, not the toy kind — the taxidermied kind.  “Oh, is your husband a hunter?” I asked, admiring the fox’s glassy eyes, lifelike pose, and the chopped-off rattlensnake rattles they had used to decorate the base the dead thing was standing on. She said yes, but that he hadn’t actaully gone on a fox hunt. Then she explains to me that he saw the fox dying on the side of the road,and I quote — “Probably from rabies or something” — and decided to put it out of its misery.
And, with her full support, cooperation, even urging, they then decided to take it home, have it taxidermied, and put in the entryway of their house.

People, I don’t have to go far to come up with my characters. They come to me. I love Texas.

I also love Texas because we have extremely awesome writing conferences. The one I’m thinking of right now — THE ONE I’M GOING TO TONIGHT!!! I’m so excited, I can’t wait– is the Awesome Austin Destination Publication SCBWI Writing Conference.

Check out the line-up. Marla Frazee? Kirby Larson? Jacqueline Kelly? Rock stars, for crying out loud! Have you ever seen so many award winners and all-around gobsmackingly talented writers all in one place? I’m not even counting the editors (Cheryl Klein, Lisa Graff, Stacy Cantor, etc.) and agents (Ho hum, got a fabu one already, thanks, but I DO want to see if Nathan Bransford is really a surfer-boy) who fill out the star-studded line-up. Who needs NY SCBWI? (Well, I mean, Jane Yolen would be nice. Next year.)

I’m also going to the pre-conference dinner and post-conference BBQ, where I’ll get to hang out with authors (I have actually met and who talk to me) like Jennifer Ziegler (WHO I ACTUALLY KNOW FROM CHILDHOOD!!!), Jessica Lee Anderson (one of the nicest people in the world, not kidding), Bethany Hegedus, P. J. Hoover, and Shelli Cornelison (who is just plain awesome, with or without a book deal).

Sorry for all the capitals, folks, but I’m excited. In my defense, I DO live in the Capitol City: the Capitol Of Awesomeness.

Gonna be there? Look for me. I’ll be the one embarrassing herself at the punch bowl.