Brian Katcher

I had an awesome time at the Young Adult Library Service Association conference. It was in this fancy St. Louis hotel, which always makes me feel like a Ghostbuster. But then I went to an author event at Left Bank Books with Deborah Heiligman and David Levithan. Thanks to a combination of road construction and my poor driving skills, we took an impromptu tour of East St. Louis before arriving.

The next day I got to participate in a workshop about serving LGBT youth. Then I was able to hang out with my old friend Antony John, as well as authors Greg Neri and Torrey Maldonado. We discussed balancing our writing with our families and ‘real jobs’ and how we are basically the unrecognized geniuses of our generation. In a perfect world, we’d be able to quit our jobs and travel the country in a ‘68 Volkswagen bus, writing and solving mysteries.

Oh, and there was free food and stuff.

I had a wonderful time in Springfield, Missouri this weekend. On Friday, I talked to classes at the Ozark Technical Community College. Everyone was very nice, despite the fact I got lost on the way and showed up late. Here’s one blogger’s description of my visit.

Saturday, I got to speak to the Springfield Writers’ Guild, who were kind enough to let me sit in on their critiquing session. Wish I could keep coming back.

Part one and Part two.

I’ll be at Left Bank Books in St. Louis on November 2, at 7:00, along with author Deborah Heiligman. In case you were wondering, I do not sign body parts.