Last weekend, I went to my first CON. I've been to conferences before, and meetings and get-togethers and schmoozes, but not a CON–except for all those conventions I went to. So, oh. Um.. I went to my first TEEN BOOK CON. In Houston. My very first.
Every student in every state should have an opportunity to experience something like teen book con. The sixteen-year-old in me kept screaming at adult Lindsey. A recap…

16 LL (uh, then LT): Holy Moly. That high school was unreal–totally looked like a mall. And I should know, because i work at the Gap.
29ish LL: I hate the Gap. The jeans fit funny.
16 LL: They sit right at the belly button. Where all jeans should fit. Just like Joey on Dawson's Creek:

29 LL: Man, that style was not big-meal friendly. But let's move one. Teen Book Con
16 LL: Was, like, astounding. Awesome. And.. what's another word that starts with A?
29 LL: Amazeballs.
16 LL: What? No one says that.
29 LL: In the future we do. Everyone at the conference did. The paranormal panel even brought amazeballs to throw into the audience, and I even signed an amazeball.

All pictures stolen from Teen Book Con on facebook, because I poured a water bottle on my purse (and on Blake Nelson AND Rachel Hawkins. Great getting-to-know-you activity) So alas, my phone was moisturized and I was not able to take pics.

16 LL: Well fine. Balls. I just came for the books and to listen to some amazing authors. Like Deb Caletti? She did this key note and held up her gym shorts from high school, which would probably fit on my one knee cap, and she was so funny and REAL and totally got me and that's probably why I love her books, even though, in my late-nineties existence, they are not yet available.
29 LL: She was amaz—- great. I sat next to her during our panel and didn't even freak out as she spouted words and words of wisdom. And I heard where the adorable Stephanie Perkins got the idea for ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS, and finally met Kristen Tracy, who assured me we are, in fact, soul mates, which was good, because I was getting that vibe too.

(Deb Caletti, Stephanie Perkins, Kristen Tracy, and me aka the panel: The Lighter Side With Some Bumps Along the Way. Yeah, things got bumpy in there)
So, to put it mildly, the panels went really well, at least from my authorly (and sort of fan girly) vantage point.
16 LL: Except when you got all tangenty and talked longer than the other panelists. Especially on that dreams questions. Please. I don't wake up every morning thinking "I shall be a writer someday!" \ I got to meet readers, and introduce myself to readers who didn't know I existed. Oh, and had a fabulous visit at The Kinkaid School that had a library that was simply unreal. Speaking of, fabulous librarians came to Teen Book Con and even bused in students from all over Texas. I can't give enough praise about the event, the organizers, or The Blue Willow Bookshop. In all, a magical day.