Meeting Ella Quinn

Today I got to meet the romance author of The Marriage Game series, The Worthington series, The Trevors series and most recently, The Lords of London series. I love her stories and have read each novel, and have the Kindle versions and all her Audible options. 

I follow her on her Facebook group, and when she said she would be in the US, I asked when she would be in the area I live in (I use the term area in loose terms- it was over five hours travel time but totally worth it!)

I left my house early in the morning, and drove in my "WHY DON'T I HAVE AIR-CONDITIONING" car on what was a VERY hot day thru Kentucky, Indiana, a some of lower Illinois, when I decided to stop for a drink about an hour from our meeting place. I was making good time and just wanted something cold. In jumping out, I only took my wallet, realizing a few minutes later that I had locked my keys in the car!

Only me!

I called my Roadside assistance people... They had no providers anywhere near where I was.

I decided if worse came to worse, I would break a window. I would have to drive all the way home instead of staying overnight in Louisville but needs must. 

I called the Carmi IL police department and lucky for me, Officer Grider was able to get me into my car without any damage and I was on the road again in short order.

I arrived at The Hills in Harrisburg IL only to discover that I was really early- Illinois is an hour behind Ohio- a fun fact I completely forgot!

So I settled in to wait and it was SO WORTH IT.

We ordered lunch and we talked about her books, her former life as a JAG and family attorney, the world and life in general. She is brilliant, funny and I felt honored to spend time with her. Ella offered to sign my copies of her books and I was over the moon. And so glad I brought them all with me.

It was a great afternoon and I am so glad I went. We parted company, her to go see grandchildren and me to get to the Louisville hotel for the night.

But my adventure was not over yet. As I pulled in a gas station, my oil light went red, and when checked, my car was dry- no oil at all. Grateful to have stopped before my engine seized, I got 2 quarts in and was back on my way. And just outside of Louisville, there was a downpour and it cooled off the day.

Thanks so much, Ella!