Welcome to Litsy!

Perhaps the biggest revelation for me was getting to hear from Libba Bray. I‘m embarrassed to admit she wasn‘t even on my radar, and now I‘m wondering how I‘ve been so oblivious. She closed out the event with a keynote that was brilliant, funny, and inspiring. I‘d randomly attended two of the panels with her, and she cracked me up the entire time. She is officially going on my TBR list. #NoVaTeenBF #NTBF19

One of the big highlights of NoVaTeen this year was finally getting to meet Heidi Heilig in person. She was on the panel for writing in a series. I loved her novel The Girl from Everywhere, and I can‘t wait to read her latest For a Muse of Fire. I was so dumbstruck that I forgot to get a picture when she signed my books. I just happened to find this picture of me in Heidi‘s line from another author‘s Instagram story. #NoVaTeenBF #NTBF19

I‘ve been doing a lot of Cold War research during the past year, so Katherine Locke‘s reference to JFK (without directly mentioning him) has already won me over. Looking forward to hearing her speak at this Saturday‘s NoVaTeen book festival. #NoVaTeen #NoVaTeenBF

Among the reasons I attended NoVaTeen was to see Eric Smith. Eric lived in Richmond for too brief a time, and many of us miss him. Glad he made it. Saw him with Anna-Marie McLemore and Shaun David Hutchinson on a panel about anthologies. Was a great conversation with some interesting insights into how anthologies are made. #novateenbf #NTBF18