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Laura John Rowland, author of the thrilling literary mystery The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte, will appear at the Printers Row Book Fair in Chicago on Sunday, June 8. Laura will take part in the panel discussion: "Murder She Wrote," with Tasha Alexander, Lori Andrews, and Jane Hirt, which is followed by a book signing. Sunday, June 8, 12:30 p.m at the University Center/Loop Room.

What a beautiful day it was today in Chicago. Sunshine, not too warm, not too windy--just right. It was the perfect day for an outdoor fair, especially a book fair. The Printers Row Book Fair drew throngs of people, and quite a few ventured into our panel on First-Time Authors. We rocked! Our moderator, Esther Hershenhorn, had given us her questions in advance so we were prepared, sincere I believe, and even a little funny. Lorijo Metz, Deborah Ruddell, and Brenda Ferber set the tone and I followed their lead. Their books are already in print, but I was able to display my finished cover and page proofs.

We had more than 15 minutes of fame--just shy of one hour--but it was fun. The Tribune treated the authors like rock stars and had everything organized wonderfully. Even the young woman ahead of me in the buffet line commented, "I'm with C-SPAN and we don't usually get treated like this."

"Oh," I said, ever the Chicago promoter, "You mean they don't feed you at the National Book Fair?"

She thought for a moment and said, "No!"

So you rock, Tribune, and all of the volunteers and sponsors responsible for this wonderful weekend dedicated to books!

Just about all of the skin has grown back on my finger and it's just covered with a regular band-aid now. Welcome back, friend! You never know how much work your left pinky does until you can't use it.

I've been making it work overtime this past few days trying to catch up so I can get my web site live this week. I'm appearing on a panel at the Printers Row Book Fair on June 9 and since my book won't be published until fall, I don't have anything to sign. So I'm trying to get a handout together that will include my web address. By the way, the panel is on writing for children, featuring first-time authors and will be hosted by the great Esther Hershenhorn. Check out the awesome fair if you're around Chicago: http://www.chicagotribune.com/about/custom/events/printersrow/

We just had a wonderful program for our Illinois SCBWI chapter on web sites for writers. Lisa Firke (www.hitthosekeys.com) presented and did a marvelous job in showing me all of the things I didn't know about web design. If I win the lottery any time soon, I will have Lisa design a site for me. But since I am poor right now, I opted to DIY via one of the web hosting companies. Once I get this thing live I will post the addy.