If you didn’t catch Part 1, 2, or 3 of this series: In June, I attended my second UtopYA Con in Nashville, TN. Dubbed “The conference with heart” by Publisher’s Weekly, it was truly one of the high points of my year. Since I was launching Once Upon A Lexicon the day after the conference, I walked around with a whiteboard in the exhibit hall and asked some of the authors just one question…
What is your favorite word?
Here is Part 4, the last part, of their answers!
I had been meaning for awhile to drop by Eva Pohler’s table because she has always seemed so sweet and friendly. We have a common obsession with Greek mythology, so I just had to buy the first book in her Gatekeeper’s Saga to take home with me. We chatted about our love for Ancient Greece and how excited I had been to visit the actual Acropolis a few years ago. Her favorite word is so fitting for her personality, and it’s something I try to practice everyday.
Crazy enough, I met Ben Hale at UtopYa because of swing dancing. I have done swing dancing (both East and West Coast) for years, so when I saw him doing some familiar steps during Steampunk Cosplay Karaoke, I just had to step in and get a dance. He was so nice to lie to me about how well I was doing, and I enjoyed a chance to pretend like I believed him. I hunted him down at his table the next day to get his favorite word, which is actually the name of a creature he made up for his books. It’s like an ice version of a phoenix, essentially the exact opposite, which blows my mind. A picture of it can be seen on the cover of the second book in his White Mage series.
Not only do I love Heather Lyons’ word (just say it out loud a few times for fun) and her absolutely gorgeous branding, but I loved meeting her at UtopYA this year. I grabbed one of her books last year, The Deep End of the Sea, because I LOVE mythology characters in contemporary settings, and it currently resides in my desk at work as the book that I grab to devour with my food during lunch breaks. I was SO sad that she didn’t have a copy of The Collectors Society left to buy, since I love stories with Alice in Wonderland elements too, but I will just have to get all of the first three next year. If you haven’t seen the covers for these, prepare to be obsessed.
Of all the encouragement and enthusiasm I got at UtopYA for this little blog, K.C. was the one that really reminded me why I wanted to start it. I attended an Idea Exchange that she presented, and when I saw that she was wearing a t-shirt that said “Word Nerd”, I knew I had to give her one of my blog business cards. She was so excited for my idea and to see the blog when it launched that it had me excited again too. Meeting a fellow Word Nerd (I NEED that t-shirt) reminded me that there are others out there with the same geeky interests, and that’s why I wanted to start this little project. Blogging is truly about finding your niche, and UtopYA is mine.
A big, giant Thank You, Thank You, Thank You to ALL of the authors that let themselves be the test subjects for my first Whiteboard Confessions! You were all so wonderful to meet, and I can’t wait to see everyone against next year.
Thank you, Rachelle! I love your concept. It’s been fun! And it was so great meeting you.
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