BEA/HNS conference trip, day 6

Today was my half-day workshop on readers' advisory for historical fiction at the Western Massachusetts Regional Library System up in Whately/Deerfield. Judging by what attendees told me, it went pretty well. I thought so, too. Things I learned:

- I am, indeed, capable of talking about historical novels for a three-hour period (with a short break in between). Who knew? Seriously - this is the longest workshop I've done, and I was relieved that I had enough material. In fact, I skipped over a few minor things I'd thought about covering.

- People really are reading the pieces I write for NoveList, HNS, and such. Again, who knew? I get very little feedback, besides from my editor. The conference organizer had acquired and xeroxed nearly every article I'd written in the past year and distributed copies to the 20 or so attendees. This was a nice surprise, and flattering, too.

- Half-day workshops aren't all that much more work than ones that last an hour. They're just longer. Refueling with carbs midway through does help.

I had a number of good questions, and the audience was interested and responsive - it makes things go so much better when they are. (The hardest workshop I've ever taught was to a class of freshman English students who didn't say a word the entire time - they didn't even put fingers to keyboards during the hands-on portion. Talk about awkward.)

That said, with BEA and this workshop within two days of one another, I admit I'm tired. I have one day of downtime before we leave for Albany, and I'll be taking advantage of it.