How it all went down.

So Quilting Girl and I went to this event. It was approximately 80,756,386 times better than I ever imagined.

(click to read about the event)

Two days before the big night, I got a phone call from one of the big honchos over at Scholastic, who told me that one of the questions I had submitted for the authors had been selected from among thousands of questions to be part of the Q & A portion of the program.

Q&A!

But wait, it gets better.

I got to ask the question.

At Radio City Music Hall, of John Irving, on camera, in front of 6000 people. On a 103 degree day after I walked 10 blocks. But still!

QG and I got treated like VIPs. We got our seats upgraded from the already great orchestra Row M to Orchestra row D. At the end of the reading portion of the show, I was escorted down the aisle to the mike, not 5 feet from stage, where these three greats were perching on chairs and waiting eagerly for the words to flow from my lips. After I was introduced by Soledad O'Brien, my 5 minutes of fame beagn.

I asked John Irving to share some of the personal stories that inspired events and characters in A Prayer for Owen Meany, my favorite book of his. He gave a lengthy, thoughtful, and fully satisfying answer. Some portions of the program are shown here.

AND I got to see surprise guests Whooppeee! Goldberg, Kathy Bates, Stanley Tucci, and Tim Robbins. Salman Rushdie and his son came out of hiding to ask a question. Not to mention the presence of SK, my fave of faves. Thanks, Steve, for a great night. Not the first one we've spent together, but certainly one of the better ones.

All in all, an utterly fabu day in the life of Spinning Girl.

(click to visit Steve)