The Introvert's Lament

Next week I'm flying to Minneapolis for the AWP conference, where I'll mostly be staffing the CavanKerry Press table at the book fair. This will be my second AWP experience, and the first time I only spent a single day at what my friend Baron describes as Writer Circus. I was overwhelmed by the circus then; and now, as my departure date approaches, my sense of dread is increasing. It will all be fine: I will see people I like, I will find amusing things to watch, I will learn about new books and the human condition, and I will hear literature in the air. But I will still feel like a freak, and a week before departure I am already wasting way too much time fretting about what to wear--a sure sign of nerves. At least I will have a job to do when I'm there. I am proud of CavanKerry and its books, and I'm pleased that the publishers trusted me to promote them. It's good for me to join the circus, now and again. Anyway, that's what I'll keep telling myself.