Well, we’ve just arrived home from a West Coast trip–for one of Dan’s conferences, for a short 24-hour jaunt to the Tucson Festival of Books (me alone), and for seeing a handful of our lovely families in southern California.

My mother took care of Liliana two nights in the hotel room, while we had dinners with friends.  The picture above will only tell you a fraction of what kind of grandma she is.  The following story might say it better.

When we came back to the hotel the first night, and Grandma had already gone, Liliana looked at me groggily and said, “Grandma’s still here?”  I told her Grandma had had to go back to her house.  Her eyes got wide, and she jumped out of bed, to run into the main room.  She burst into tears when she saw Grandma wasn’t there.  “Grandma, Grandma!” she wailed.  I told her she’d see Grandma again, another night, and that seemed to calm her down, enough to fall asleep again.

After a slew of aunts (and another wonderful grandmother) passed through, we began to joke that Liliana would go through love withdrawals when we got home.  She was getting SO much attention.  Thank you, all, for loving her up!

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The Tucson Festival of Books was in its second year–and you wouldn’t know it by the massive size (all down the mall of the University of Arizona), the superb organization (and ready volunteers…thanks, Nelson, for being my driver to and from the event!) , and the events (with all kinds of authors, artists, and groups).  Amazing.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  Talk about a wonderland for bibliophiles.  I only wish Liliana and Dan could have been there.  It was like a rock festival, except for books!

There was a whole children’s section–with a reading room, hands-on activity tents, exhibitors tents–you name it.  Liliana would have loved it.

What else?  My session called “Forgotten Voices: Women in Religious Fiction” went superbly, deftly moderated by Laura Penny, the Executive Director of the Women’s Foundation in Southern Arizona.  I shared the session with Brenda Rickman Vantrease, who was wonderful and funny and–oh, I don’t know–like a kindred spirit!  If you love historical fiction, you’ll love her books The Illuminator, The Mercy Seller, and a new one out in April–The Heretic’s Wife.

All in all, a wonderful weekend getaway…though I missed y’all.

Now, back to work…

[Post image: Liliana in hotel pool]