Loren reading at Borderlands Books. Photo by R. Samuel Klatchko.

It was amazing to see so many of my friends at Borderlands on Sunday, including people I haven’t seen in a long while.  Better yet was seeing all the people I didn’t recognize.  I wish I’d taken a photo of the crowd, because I could look back at it whenever I needed to feel supported.  I’m not sure I have the words to tell you how much it means to an author to have a crowd when she reads — but this Sunday was the highlight in a month that has been pretty damn good (well, except for that pneumonia ordeal).

It was great to hear that people remember — and continue to miss — Morbid Curiosity magazine. It was such an honor to publish that bad boy and Borderlands will always be Morbid Curiosity‘s home.  We did so many release parties there over the magazine’s run.  I’m amused (and amazed) that if I ever decide to start the magazine up again, there are people eager to snap it up.

In the window, taken by Mason Jones

I got the chance to meet Robert Brockway just before the reading started.  He’s a senior editor at Cracked.com, which completely intimidated me, but he’s a super nice guy and did a great job warming up the crowd.  I loved the bit he read about the punk scene in NYC in 1977. I can’t wait to dive into his book, The Unnoticeables.

Alan Beatts introduced me by reminiscing about the misty past when I worked at Borderlands and the store was still on Laguna Street. My stint as a bookseller, brief as it was, taught me so much about standing on the other side of the counter and putting books into people’s hands. It’s hard to believe Alan and I have known each other for almost 20 years.

A couple of hours before the reading began, I was practically sick with excitement, but once I got up in front of the mic, it was wonderful. There were some technical complications with the sound bouncing around and ambient noise in the cafe (as well as the usual Sunday-on-Valencia-Street ice cream carts and street drama), but once I slowed down to savor the moment, I think the reading went really well.

My friends in the audience fed me some great questions about my earlier novel (As Above, co-written with Brian Thomas) and the writing schedule to get all three Templar books finished, but the best was Jim’s question about the relationship between Raena and Ariel. To me, that relationship is the heart of the books, proof that love can save even the most broken people.  I was really touched that my characters spoke to someone else as much as they do to me.

Jeremy Lassen and me at Borderlands. Photo by Mason Jones.

After the reading, people thrilled me by bringing me books to sign.  I’m just so excited to autograph books that it’s hard for me not to write paragraph after paragraph as inscriptions.

Then Dana Fredsti & David Fitzgerald (who really are the best friends ever) opened a couple of really good bottles of wine to toast the book.

Jeremy Lassen, my editor and taskmaster, gave an extremely sweet toast in my honor. I managed not to cry, but it was touch and go.

It was one of the best days of my life.

Oh, and Borderlands has a big stack of autographed copies of The Dangerous Type.  If you’d like one, contact them at info@borderlands-books.com.