We went down to scenic Normal, IL for the Illinois Young Writers Conference, at which I met with about a hundred or so 6th graders and talked about being a writer. Each kid got a copy of "Pirates of the Retail Wasteland," and the campus bookstore - which was well stocked in advance with both of my books - sold out of everything I had about five minutes after the book signing started. Man, that's a nice feeling. Great bunches of kids, too. I don't envy them having seventh and eighth grades in front of them, but, hey, that's 10 more years til they're out of college - maybe the economy will pick up by then!