The Ohioana Book Festival was nice. Not as many people attended as I'd expected ... seriously, Harvey Pekar was there! And Mary Doria Russell! The festival also featured live music, author readings, discussion panels, and book signings.

Gary and I both did short interviews for the OSU CSTW podcast; I'm not sure when they will be posted, though.

Gary and I signed a fair number of books and met new readers, and got to chat with Christopher Barzak and Catherynne M. Valente more than we had in the past. yukon_jack dropped by for a bit, and I also saw Jane D., a librarian I knew from my days at OCLC, and it was fun to see her again.

Most of our table visitors were fun to talk with. But of course there were also the usual annoyances. One woman announced disdainfully that Sparks and Shadows "looks like a children's book". Uh ... okay. And another picked the book up, read the back, and dropped it like a hot rock, announcing "I don't like short stories." Good to know!

sarajlarson and her husband Bill came to the festival in the afternoon; they'd come to Columbus to attend a gem show, which sadly turned out to be a bust. We had a fun time catching up with them.

That evening, we went to a reception at the governor's mansion in Bexley, and it was really cool (and not paid for at taxpayer expense!) It was a mix of authors, their guests, and festival workers. Governor Strickland wasn't there, but we met his first lady Frances and she was very gracious and pleasant. We also went on a tour of the mansion, which is filled with art and crafts from Ohioans and has been nicely restored. The gardens there are pretty and filled with fish ponds, and in short I'm glad we had the chance to attend.

The next book festival is set for May next year; I hope we get invited back, and I hope more people can make it. :)

In related news, I'd like to be able to go to a convention (or other gathering) and not come home with a cold :-\

*coff*