I was so nervous to be volunteering at this years Rebels and Readers Event… soo many readers and authors running around and I didn’t have a clue what to do… I felt like a fish out of water… 😛 thankfully, the feeling of community and acceptance was just as strong there (face to face) as it is online… I even managed to come out of my shell a little.. as a life long lover of living in the shadows being forward usually gives me heartburn…

By volunteering, I got the chance to interact and do a test run of group interaction… now don’t laugh… there are a lot of people that think this type of attitude is silly, or just an act… But I was that girl that got the solo, but didn’t really want it… I loved to sing, but thinking about all those people staring at me … well, I threw up before every concert… lol… being at the Rebels and Readers Event was a lot like that… (No vomit this time) … one of the things I have started doing in order to push my limits is to immediately tell people that I’m shy, that I don’t know what I’m doing, that I’m afraid I will screw up… this help by letting others know that I am not bitchy or stuck up, I just don’t know what to say or do… they gave me a task to concentrate on, and once I started feeling comfortable, I allowed my inner jokester to come out (the one that usually only comes out to play when I’m around friends and family) the other thing I have been doing to help myself become more outgoing??? I hum or sing to myself whenever the action slows down and I don’t have a task to focus on… silly, but it works for me … singing in front of people used to instill horrible fear, even more than speaking… by using my voice in this small way, I keep myself from hiding in those welcoming shadows…

Check out the Rebels and Readers’s BLOG for all kinds of book goodies

The Event seemed to go really well… the authors voiced a lot of thanks to Amy and Tanya (Rebel and Readers Queens!!!) There were dozens of give-a-ways and raffle games… The crowd packed in from 10am-2pm on both Saturday and Sunday, enjoying all the free swag and numerous books to purchase… The above picture is from Sunday, which contain about half as many people… double the number of people you see in the picture and you still can’t imagine how packed it was… lol… walking through the room was a challenge but worth suffering the overwhelming body heat… Rock on Authors…

Why the heck am I wearing a sweater, you ask??? it was under 40 degrees outside and the air conditioning was on high in the event areas to combat the number of people enjoying all the lovely books… Casey L. Bond took pity on me as I shivered in my short sleeved shirt (early in the event before the crowd brought in the body head) She is a lovely person, not to mention a awesome author… you guys should definitely check out her books… And how cute it is that sweater… I loved it, and need one of my own… lol… The sweater promotes the lovely Cambria Herber’s Nerd Series… Another wonderful author… she has so many must read books, as well as information (on her blog/follow the link) for authors like me that feel like they are drowning in the Promotional aspect of being a writer…

I am glad I got to volunteer this year… It gave me a chance to watch the authors in actions and take notes on what I should do when I become one of their number… Shocking Finds  will hopefully have a table to display itself next year… now I need to get cracking on finishing the next book… Seriously, the authors and readers were great… I can’t wait for next year…

Don’t for get the contest to win a free ebook copy of Shocking Finds (A Finder’s Keepers Novel) ends tomorrow at 10am… I thought the contest ended at noon, but sorry guys, it ends a little earlier than that… just go to CD Hersh’s Blog and leave a comment on Shocking Finds Friday Feature… Woo who…

Happy Wordage, Tracey