Slight delay of my TLA recap, due to dry hacking cough and stuffy nose. On my last trip, I obsessively Purelled and opened doors with my elbows and otherwise behaved like Monk, and stayed healthy. This time: fail. But now, I’m on a potent cocktail of Sudafed, Robitussen, and Advil, and ready to post!

In summary, Texas librarians are fierce, in the best possible way. Passionate, smart, fun, and well-dressed.

At the panel, I was thrilled to see the librarian from a Texas school I visited back in November—she’d made a giant Sweethearts poster and brought it for me to sign so she can hang it in her library. After I took about 100 pictures of John Green with his fans and with their cameras, the panel went well thanks to fabulous moderator Renee. Lisa Klein does a lot of research. Melissa Marr can write for 14 hours at a time, when the mood is right. John eagerly awaits Porky’s IV.

Then, a bunch of other stuff happened. Including a casual Q&A together with Cassandra Clare and Texas teens. Signing. Some dinners. I talked a lot. I got to meet some people I’ve only known through the Interwebs, like blog friend Varian Johnson, and some brand new people I didn’t know at all, like charming Justin Somper and the lovely Susan McBride. Here we are sporting our Author! Author! buttons, which Justin claims he will wear around his home town of London.

At some point, I contracted my cold, but that didn’t stop me from having a good time, no sir. And I came home excited about the next book, and the next, and the next, and the next…