OK, so maybe Boston isn’t *that* far away, but it sure was good to see Rick last night closer to home.  Bookpeople hosted Rick Riordan in Austin at the Westlake Community Performing Arts Center to introduce his latest book, The Blood of Olympus (which happens to be the #1 best-selling book at Amazon – just thought I’d casually throw that in). There were hundreds of enthusiastic kids in orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirts – it was so much fun. While we were backstage, I also got to see my brother Rees who lives in Austin – kind of a mini-family reunion. Yay.

For those of you who want to hear Rick’s take on his upbringing and how he became a writer, you can see the video of his appearance at the New York Public Library a couple of days ago. (Actually, I put the video here so I can watch it as much as *I* want to!)  Yep, I am one proud mom.

Thanks for indulging me, you guys! And now, back to art, congrats to mixed-media artist Susan Gantz from Virginia who won the Milagro Journal Friday Freebie. I haven’t met Susan, but am always glad to get to share with fellow artists. I emailed her to let her know, and she wrote back, “This is amazing. I love your blog, and the videos (special favorite is the glue stick/gold leaf).” Thanks, Susan – it reminds me that we’re all in this together – if you have ideas, blog posts, websites – whatever – to share, send me an email and I’ll post them when I can. OK, now go buy Rick’s book <grin>.