Next week I will be at the Massachusetts Library Association’s 2009 Conference, the annual gathering of librarians that also features vendor booths for publishers and booksellers. (May 5-8, 2009)

2009 MLA Conference

I will be taking “Eclipsed by Shadow” to the event. This will be my first library convention to attend personally, although the book traveled West last fall for the American Library Convention (ALA) as part of the IPBA display. For this event I will be part of the regional Independent Publishers of New England booth, who have been great in getting this together and helping out us newbies.

I’m excited about the event, though I’m aware most people don’t find librarians as exciting as I do. To me libraries are one of the most entertaining and vital venues on earth, hallowed areas filled with the knowledge and creativity of our species … which to me reflects the best of humanity.

My sales pitch? I have no idea. The “horse angle” is the easiest and most obvious, since Eclipsed by Shadow and the Great Horse series explores the history of horsemanship. I don’t know if that is the best representation of the story, however: my take on horsemanship is different than the stereotypical horse story, and one of the things I’d like to do is stay out of all pigeon holes.

I’ll probably emphasize the historical aspect, which is how I approached the story. I believe that history is a big part of the value of the story to the reader. If anyone would “get” that it would be a librarian. Like I said, exciting, exciting people.