I’m heading out on Sunday morning to Chicago, a city I love yet haven’t visited in the last fifteen years, my traveling time cut way back
when I left my in-house job as an editor at a textbook publisher.  Back in the day, my schedule took me away
from home for a total of two-and-a-half to three months a year, visiting
campuses, talking to professors, and trying to find some new authors to sign to
our list.  I didn’t enjoy traveling then
because I had a small child and was away what seemed like all the time.  Now, though, after fifteen years of working
in my attic, I look forward to a little time away.

This next trip, I’m lucky enough to be traveling with my
good friend, Mary Ann, who is an intrepid international traveler and who has
arranged every last detail of the trip, right down to the brunch reservation we
have the minute we arrive in the Windy City. 
I like taking the guess work out of where I’ll be eating eggs benedict
on Sunday morning.

While in the Chicago area, I’ll be speaking at the Oak Lawn
library (Monday night at 7:00) to a group of people—size to be determined—about
my series, writing, and anything else that pops into my head.  One thing that I’ve taken to doing lately
during speaking engagements, however, is responding directly to frequently
asked questions so that those questions are answered before we get to the
Q&A portion of the evening.  I think
I’ve hit them all, but what I’d love to hear from all of you out there in the
Stiletto-wearing world is any question you’d like to ask an author that you
haven’t heard asked before.  The person
who asks the most pertinent question that gets added to my speech will win one
copy of the Advanced Reader’s Copy of EXTRA CREDIT, the latest Alison Bergeron
title to be published in December of this year.

So, get cracking. 
What do inquiring minds want to know from those of us who toil in solitude,
creating imaginary worlds?

Maggie Barbieri