Saturday, June 4, 2011

Friday Night at Cairo Caravan

My Friday at Cairo Caravan:

* Drive to Queen Mary.

* Check in with the festival organizers.

* Find authors table (second level, awesomely renamed "Thebes Level" for the festival).

* Find my friend and tablemate, Shauna Roberts.

* Set up the authors table.

* Move authors table to a spot with a view of the stage (and the terrific dancing!)

* Set up the authors table again

* Find the Boiler Room, where my morning lecture is taking place.

* Wait for eyes to adjust to the room's darkness, search in vain for additional lighting, and -- finding none -- seriously consider changing focus of talk from the belly dancers who performed at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair to belly dance ghost stories or something more suited to a scary dark place like the Queen Mary's Boiler Room.

* Sell first book of the night -- of the festival! -- to the lovely and talented and vivacious and darling and -- well, you get the idea -- Ansuya. This Bellydance Superstar has always been a superstar in my book, and I finally had the opportunity to tell her how inspiring I found her Santa Monica classes to be waaayyay back when BDSS was just a glint in Miles Copeland's eye. (Yes, this was a big fangirl moment for me, hence, the goofy grin in the picture...)

* Meet Liliana, a Facebook friend I have never had the pleasure of meeting in person before, who stopped and chatted and let me sign a book for her.

* Meet and sign books for several sweet and delightful ladies who stopped to chat and share our chocolate.

* Drive home, exhausted but happy, to rest up and be ready to head back in the morning.

Still wondering about those ghost stories, too...







No comments: