Live from the Airport in Minneapolis!

Well, ACFW is over, and I'm sitting here in the airport waiting for my flight to board (1/2 hour to go!). Can't wait to get home. Will only be there 6 days, but man! Am I gonna enjoy it.

I posted some pix from the MASSIVE author book signing at the Mall of America yesterday on my Twitter account, but thought I'd share them with you here, too. More than 100 Christian novelists loaded up into 3 school buses and took the Mall of America by storm. The Best Buy rotunda never knew what hit it! Tables were set up all around the stage in front of a tall column with two large screens. On those screens were pictures, information, and video trailers of the authors and their books.

Impressive, huh? Brandilyn Collins thought so, too. You can see the amazement on here face as she watches the show...

That's Judith Miller behind her to the right.

ACFW didn't just have us sign, though. They set up panels for all during the signing. I was on the first panel in the Best Buy rotunda with my buds, Angie Hunt, Jim Scott Bell, and Brandilyn. We sat right in front of those videos and pictures, which I thought was good. If we got boring, they could just watch the screens!

It was a blast, though, because not only were we talking to the folks seated in front of us, there were people peering at us from all four floors of the mall, And the tall matrix of escalators was right in front of us, so folks listened as they rode. I even saw a few people stop and try to go back down the escalator to keep listening as we talked. Very fun.

I enjoyed talking with all the people who stopped by, like this woman and her adorable little baby , and directing them to the amazing authors at the tables. I was seated between Jim Bell and Angie, and just down the table were Angie Hunt, Brandilyn Collins, and Susan Meissner. Talk about heady company!

Angie, Brandilyn, and fans

Jim Bell & Mama Ruth (Brandilyn's mom)

Karen and Susan Meissner, tired but happy!

Jim Bell & John Robinson, mugging for the camera

Karen & Brandilyn

People were so kind and excited. It made the two hours (on our feet, thank you very much) pass in a flash. By the time we herded back onto the school buses, I was ready for a nap, but I had 7 15-minute meetings with authors waiting for me, so settled for a LARGE cup of coffee and a handful of peanuts.

All in all, I think this was a brilliant idea on the part of ACFW. I know it was a HUGE amount of work for them, but they pulled it off. Beautifully. So if they ever decide to do it again, make sure you come. It was history in the making, folks. Besides which, it was flat fun!

Peace to you today.

Karen