Writer's Grove

Rúla Búla is for reals!

Went to Rúla Búla today for lunch with the incredibly spiffy Chelsea from Vampire Book Club. If you’ve never visited her particular blog, it’s one o’ the better ones out there (that I’ve read, anyway), and that probably has a bit to do with the fact that Chelsea’s a journalist as well as an avid reader. Though she’s now based in Texas, Chelsea went to ASU and recognized the neighborhood in HOUNDED, and so we got to gabbing a bit back and forth via Twitter. (Twitter is cool like that.) She’s visiting family and friends for a week, so she and her husband were able to squeeze in some time to visit at everyone’s favorite Irish pub on Mill Avenue. Here’s what it looks like—I snapped a photo before I went in to meet Chelsea:

If you ever do find yourself in Tempe (or the Phoenix area), now you’ll know what to look for. :) I’m hoping to see plenty of  you there on April 28, because that’s when we’re holding Atticus n’ Oberon’s Sausage Fest to celebrate the release of TRICKED. We have most of the details worked out now, I’m just waiting on the art; I’ll do a full post on it once it’s ready to go!

Anyway, some slightly blurry proof (eek, sorry!) that we had a convivial meeting:

We shared our geekouts over meeting our favorite authors. We discussed tattoos, because both Chelsea and her husband have some really impressive ones. I found out that there’s a pretty cool indie bookstore in Fairview, Texas (nearish Dallas) called A Real Bookstore, where, gods willing, I’ll be able to visit next summer. (I’m going to try to visit a few places in the south next summer because, dang it, I want to, and I haven’t been to the south since the mid-90s; so far I’ve pencilled in Lexington, KY; Nashville, TN; Atlanta, GA; maybe somewhere in NC? And Dallas.) We also got to chat with Steve, the owner of Rúla Búla, for a little while. He gave me some hints about where to visit when I finally get myself across the Atlantic to visit Ireland—cannot wait to go!

Chelsea n’ Matt were completely lovely people and I’m glad I got to hang out with them for a while. The wife n’ I hit Mill Avenue afterward and enjoyed the shops there. Woohoo! Sunday afternoons are cool. Hope you had a good one too. :)