Fair enough

Luckily the last book fair this year is over.


It was hectic, as usual, but it was nice, too. Let me list some of the best things, the order depending on my moods.

1. The guests. The writers. The ones the fans of whom many of us are.



2. The crowds. Hundreds of eager cusiomers. No, thousands of people who don't work in the business but to whom bookfair is fun. Celebration. Audiences clapping hands and cheering after good interviews.


3. Bookfair bath. A brilliant tradition the cleverest people on earth, editors, just started.

On Friday evening, when everybody else was summing up the recent experiences at bars around Helsinki, we – a group of nine women – were bathing at an impressing and posh sauna department in a big trade union headquarters near the fair.

'

In sauna there was +90 degrees Celcius, and the pool was nice, too, by a fireplace, and we lit candles around it... Envious? You should be!



4. Being busy so that I don't have time to worry about things that should be ready by day before yesterday. Lost deadlines are COMPLETELY LOST at the fairs. Too bad. Hah.

5. Last but not least, a bookfair bath at home. After the gates are closed. After the money has been counted, after stalls and booths are torn down and after the foreign guests have been driven to the airport.

After Miss Funnybunny has been put to bed. Cup of tea by the side of the tub. Must be rooibos or mate. Something to make me feel relaxed and refreshed.

Enough. Back to normal.


But not just yet, I have some lovely reading to do. Fair enough.