Thank the gods, I can type this instead of saying it, because my voice is still hashed. Now on to NIBB 2019.

Where to start…

I suppose I could start with why my voice is gone. It started with the drive up there and my singing along with my 80s playlist. Fun fact, as I pulled into Clear Lake, Toni Basil started chanting Mickey, hey Mickey. Move on to my squeaks, squeals, and shrieks of joy for all my writing buddies. The next day, I couldn’t seem to keep my mouth shut. With the 80s theme, I met so many like minded individuals. And after the event, I did it again, pretended to sing. So, yeah, that’s why I’ve got this squeaky, husky weirdness going on. Oh, well, it was worth it!

Micki, Lori, Rachel, and their crew did a totally awesome job—as usual—with this year’s event. Kat and I cannot thank them enough for allowing us to play along. And a huge shout-out to Micki’s mom, the glasses she painstakingly engraved induced tears. You all work so hard and give so much of yourself to this event, and it shows.

The authors, writers, whatever you all want to call yourselves. From the event to the after party, you guys rocked it like 1980 something… As usual, I didn’t get a chance to chat with everyone, but I did get to catch up with the Bean Club, and rest of the crew I only get to chat with online.

Craig Hart—you might remember him from the comedy team of Hart and Therme, or Therme and Hart. Craig and Erik think they’re funny, fortunately they are—does a podcast called The Games & Writers Show, you can catch the micro interviews he did at the event.

A simple thank you isn’t enough, when it comes to all the readers.

Our 80s trivia game was a blast from the past! I was so inspired by the enthusiasm, we tossed in two extra prizes for the runners up. The like, totally awesome Kellee and Julie, thank you both for playing and chatting with us.

Our general admission winner was Stacey, you totally blew us away with a finish time of a little over 5 minutes. That was some quick thinking!

Our VIP winner was the amazing sweet Lindsay, who I first met at Fall Into Books in Sioux Falls. I was over the moon when I saw she was the winner. Not only the winner, but the only one to get every answer spot on!

Pamela, from Rising Phoenix Arts—she designed and made the necklace in the prize package—was there. So I got to introduce her to its new owner!

The one that threw everyone was a line from Lost Boys. Second shelf is mine. That’s where I keep my root beers and my double-thick Oreo cookies. Everyone, except Lindsay, left off the double-thick Oreos.

The after party was so much fun. Just like teen nights—you know, when the clubs opened on Sunday for us underagers—Becca, Kat, and I gathered in our room, did hair, makeup, and chatted about boys…well, not the boys part. I had a blast helping Becca out with hers, been a while since I got to play with someone else’s face and hair.

Quite a few celebrities showed up, not one but two Slashes—reminded me of that South Park episode Vünter Slauche—a.k.a. Amy Queau and Micki Fredricks. And I got to party with rock goddesses Stevie Nicks and Joan Jett, a.k.a. Savannah Verte and Lori Ratty. There was an excellent reenactment of Bohemian Rhapsody, by our very own Wayne, a.k.a. The Real Rae Matthews, and Garth, a.k.a. Aubrey Parr. There were a few Breakfast Club characters running around, Dawn had the Basket Case down. All she needed were some pixie sticks.

At first I was going to hang low and just chat with people, but the energy and all those tunes… It was just too much to resist. I was out there in the girl circle, with everyone else on the dance floor. Sunday, not only was my voice shot, but I felt muscles I hadn’t used in ages.

Would I do it again? Well, maybe… Oh, who am I kidding? I’d be right back out there with everyone. Totally worth it!