Tuesday's updates

One week to go! At least for me -- I fly out next Tuesday .... IF I can find a way to the airport. Feels like every day they close another section of the Big Dig and announce it is unsafe.

Jolieblogola
Jolie invites everyone to stop by during the Literacy Bookfair.

Lucy Monroe
Lucy is planning a cyber party every day of National.

Crystal Jordan
Crystal details her schedule at National.

Lisa Pulliam
Lisa is selflessly volunteering to be someone's date to any publisher parties. 0:)

Being Bonnie Vanak
Bonnie is a flat-footed decidophobic NAPPA and MAGHOMO.

Ember Case
Ember is on the trail of the best free wireless access points and gives the results of her search so far.

Laura Marie Altom's Bookblog
Laura is looking for advice on where to see gorgeous antebellum mansions in the Atlanta area.

Grosvenor Square
Melissa is prepping for the conference and looking for a third person to share a room with her and a friend. Also, keep an eye out for Melissa at the conference and give her an extra cheery hello as she doesn't know many people who will be there.

Squawk Radio
Teresa quizzes the Squawkees on Squawketiquette.

Sandy's Chatterblog
The most recent addition to the Blogging National blog roll, Sandy already has a few short posts up about prepping for National. In chronological order: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

The Writing Playground
Kimberly has a fun post on how to avoid being blog fodder. I can only say AMEN! to her points, like the advice to perfume wearers to go easy on the rest of us. Better yet, abstain. And I personally just learned that the vibrate setting on my cell phone DOES NOT mean it will not also ring (who knew?) just in the nick of time to avoid being the illustrative case for point 2 of her Don'ts.

A number of blog posts now have cautioned people not to get drunk. This is my first National, but I am assuming these posts are reactions to just a few people every year who doubt the wisdom of Nancy Reagan's JSN admonition to others. Part of me wonders though if the Conference Drunk is kind of like the Wedding Bimbo -- that one woman who dresses in a wildly inappropriate manner and then sits on all the men's laps. It's almost a tradition.

Are there any other stock characters who always show up at a conference? How about The Crackler? The person who brings a bag of small munchies into a workshop and, under the delusion of being discreet, picks out one munchy at a time, each time with a torturously prolonged crackling of the bag.

Or The Desperada, that legendary woman (I have to believe it's just one person making the rounds) who is responsible for all the best conference Don't stories, like "Don't slide your manuscript under the stall door in the bathroom."

Or The Extrovert, an exceedingly rare breed of writer who thrives in the crowded conference milieu, cheerily inviting everyone to join her at the bar with all the confidence in the world that, of course, people love her and will want to be with her. And it always seems to work -- just ask Alesia Holliday or Marley Gibson. Charming extroverts both.

Or The Rogue Elephant who tramples all and sundry in her quest to get every free book at every publisher signing no matter the genre, author or WOM.