Oh! What a Night!

I planned it for months.
I talked about it for weeks.
I had nightmares about it for one night. But oh what a night.

I love books so when I was invited to participate in an author reading at Book'd in Burbank, I jumped at the chance. I had attended this Book'd in Burbank event twice before and enjoyed the writers who showcased there, the audience who came to hear the readings and the whole feeling of being in a theater surrounded by people who love books. It rocked.

Months ago I put this event on my calendar. I knew exactly what I would read: an excerpt from my upcoming comedy book about Paris--Paris! Take Me Away! I knew what I would wear: boots because they're comfortable to stand in during said reading. And I knew exactly when I would get to the theater: early.

For weeks I talked about this event to book lovers--my family, my friends, complete strangers at the LA Times Festival of Books. All 6,000 of them. Needless to say, I was ready for my author reading.

The night before the event, however, I had a dream that I forgot the excerpt of my book that I would be reading. I believe this is called a "nightmare", a "disaster" or the "surest way to give yourself a heart attack".

The next morning I laid out everything for the event, including my excerpt to read in a clean manilla folder. That evening I grabbed my purse, book copies and promotional materials and marched to the car in my comfortable boots.

"Do you have everything?" Mr. Wonderful said as I loaded everything into my car.
"Of course," I said. "I'm ready for tonight."
"Are you... sure?"
It wasn't what he said but the tone with which he said it that made me think twice. I rushed back into The House and on my desk lay the clean manilla folder containing my excerpt to read. I had almost forgotten my reading. I had almost lived my nightmare. I had almost experienced a disaster. I had almost given myself a quadruple heart attack.

Arriving early to the theater I greeted people, settled in and enjoyed the five other books and authors that night: The Revealed by Jessica Hickam, The Sheik's Son by Nicola Italia, Dark Lashes by Felice Fox, Catchee Monkey by Sean Cameron and This Old Homicide by Kate Carlisle.

When my name was called I seized the clean manilla folder, walked on stage and took my place at the podium. Looking out, the audience seemed eager. Removing my excerpt from the manilla folder, I read. The audience listened, they smiled, laughed and applauded at all the right places. It was just what I had wanted. It was worth the months of planning, the weeks of publicizing and even that one night of the disaster nightmare because this night of Book'd in Burbank really rocked!

It was Oh! What a Night!