I'm a fan of fans!

In a career like this one, it's almost difficult to admit it but...I'm a terrible fangirl.

As in, I'm bad at it. I remember the only time I actually ever got nervous talking to another author because I was a fan. It was Angela Knight and the reason I'm such a big fan is because she's had the career that I aspire to having. She went from e-published novellas to a single-title NY series and still manages to do it all. I went to a workshop she gave at an RWA conference and afterwards, I went up to talk to her, hands sweaty, heart pounding. I felt like a 10 year old girl backstage at a Hannah Montana concert. I'm pretty sure I managed to have a reasonable conversation with her, but it's kind of a blur now.

But honestly, that's the only time I've ever been stricken by a case of fandom. The rest of the time it's been a realization that no matter how many books or bestsellers a person has behind them, they have to sit down every day and crank out the words, just like every other writer. Just like me.

It's an experience that's both humbling and leveling. If I ever had the notion to outgrow my ego's britches, it only takes looking around at other aspiring writers and realizing that I have been there and done that - and they can do it, too.

I'm preparing to go to a reader/writer get together at the end of the month and I don't know what I'll encounter. My name is quite small compared to many of the other attendees and I'm certain that I won't be on anyone's Top 10 List, but in the event that I ever meet anyone who's read my books and enjoyed them, I'll probably be as nervous as I was meeting my own writing heroine. Gosh, I hope my hands aren't sweaty!