It was a soggy day at the Boston Book Festival in Copley Square. Even with the crummy weather, there were more attendees than I’ve seen in the past four years that I’ve gone. It’s so encouraging and magical to be with fellow book lovers! I look forward to this free (!) event every year.

Highlights

• Writer Idol. This session was packed! At 10:30am in Old South Church, I wasn’t expecting to walk into a room full of so many writers. My manuscript page didn’t get selected to be read, but that’s okay. I still got plenty of great advice from hearing agents critique the opening pages of at least 20 other submissions. Brutal, but helpful.

• In between sessions I was wandering around Copley Square in the rain trying to find Roxy’s Grilled Cheese truck, which I get every year. But it wasn’t there! My legs were still sore from hiking a mountain the day before so I was cranky and soggy and grilled-cheese-less when, suddenly, RAINBOW FISH crossed my path on the sidewalk, being guided by the fins by some Boston Book Fest volunteer! Ha! Whoever was in the costume clearly couldn’t see, and the sight of Rainbow Fish shuffling cautiously across and to the Boston Public Library gave me so much joy in that moment.

• The Queering the Canon panel was awesome. Like earlier, I was shocked at how packed it was! After scarfing down some non-Roxys lunch, I’d arrived just ten minutes before the session was supposed to start, and there was hardly any seats left! So many bookish queers altogether in the same room, ah! Beautiful sight.

• The line around the corner to see Tayari Jones’ fiction keynote. She’s well worth standing out in the rain for. Besides reading from and talking about her bestselling book An American Marriage, she gave some wonderful and inspiring nuggets of advice for writers. I left feeling hopeful and wanting to read everything Jones has written immediately.