Watch out for Limes! Lessons from School and Bookstore Visits

I've been doing a steady stream of school and bookstore events, reading and talking about my hardcover debut, Wonder Light: Unicorns of the Mist. Here are a few of the lessons I've learned so far:

1) Friday-Flip-Up Day rules still apply, even if it isn't Friday. I was getting ready for a school visit, and my husband laughed when he found out I was wearing the same shorts I wear under my judo gi underneath my flowery skirt.

"You never go into a school with a skirt on and no shorts underneath!" I said.

"You're not in elementary school anymore," he countered.

I kept my shorts on and made my way to the old, stuffy building on a hot spring day. Guess what the teacher had blowing full blast in his classroom? A huge floor fan. Marilyn Monroe, anyone?

I rest my case.

2) Watch out for limes. When killing a couple hours between school visits and a bookstore event, by all means, go to the food court and grab something to eat. But if you choose pad thai, you might want to skip the limes. I picked up a juicy wedge of lime and began to squeeze it over my noodles.

And got a stream of lime juice right in my eye.

My eye clamped shut and tears ran down my cheek. It stung so bad, I headed straight for the restroom to wash my eye out. I barely managed to make it to the bookstore looking put-together and not squinting like a pirate who'd lost her patch. That brings me to my next tip:

3) Wear waterproof mascara (prepared—and allergic, watery-eyed—girl that I am, I always do). You never know when a group of fourth-graders might present you with a beautiful book of their unicorn drawings, bringing tears to your poised, Professional Author eyes.