I've actually had a galley of The Song of Achilles staring at me since last October. I've been wanting to read it, and intimidated at the same time. (I really need to read the book.) Consequently, I was very interested in hearing the lady speak. In her opening remarks, posted above, I learned that she's a school teacher, so perhaps that explains her comfort in front of an audience.
Now, I have to apologize for the video being a bit dark. I was shooting in the ambient light under a tent, and by that point in the late afternoon it was cool and shady, with the sun backlighting the speaker. Nonetheless, it's not too bad. Below is a brief (3 minute) reading from the novel, and you'll see that Ms. Miller is an exceptionally talented reader. She has background in the theater and it shows.
Alas, my little FlipCam holds only 2 hours of footage. I was erasing earlier authors just to film what I was able to get. Below is the very beginning of her Q & A session. Gosh, I wish I could have recorded it all, because it was very interesting. I filmed until I ran out of "tape." Enjoy! And congratulations again to Ms. Miller on this huge honor, the first of what will surely be an impressive career.
If there was one author I was most excited to see at the Book Fest, it was probably Diana Abu-Jaber. I've been a fan of this literary novelist/memoirist/thriller writer ever since I read her novel Crescent many years ago. It's a real favorite, in part due to its depiction of the full richness of Arab (and Arab-American) culture, as well as romance, drama, suspense, comedy, tragedy--but I digress. And I've never had the opportunity to hear her speak before.
Therefore, it was shameful that I missed her opening remarks, but there was socializing to be done. After Ali (AKA novelist Allison Leotta) and I had chatted with Keith Donohue briefly, she introduced me to novelists Rebecca Coleman, who appeared to be out enjoying the day as we were, and Alma Katsu, who I'd met briefly at Thrillerfest and who was one of the speakers at the festival. We were both, in turn, introduced to Eleanor Brown, who is apparently connected to the area via her parents who are local. Anyway, all three ladies were lovely and we were still chatting away as Diana began to speak.
Eventually, I excused myself, and joined the talk in progress in time to record Diana reading an excerpt from her most recent novel, Birds of Paradise. What a surprise, I loved this novel! My review may be read here. In any case, it is that reading that is the video at the very top of this post.
Below, are two videos of the Q & A session she did after the reading.
A note on the video. Yeah, I know my shooting sucks. It was very hand-held. And most of the time I'm reasonably steady, but if there's big movement, it's a good bet that superstar puppy Maggie may have had a hand in it. Between getting tangled in leashes and having her start eating my hair at one point, well, it can be a distraction. But a very, very cute and forgivable one. I'm so sorry I didn't snap a pic of her for you.
After Diana Abu-Jaber, Ali and I were supposed to head over to another tent where Eleanor was going to be having a conversation with writers Jen Lancaster and Sarah Pekkanen, but first I asked Ali if we could stop by Diana's signing line so that I could meet her. Ali was so sweet about following along wherever I wanted to go, so we waited in line for several minutes, but it was worth it. Diana was as nice as could be! I think it was obvious that I'm a real fan and long-time reader. I asked her about the Miami literary scene, because I'm considering relocating there, and she was like, "It's great! Come on down!" A very genuine and really lovely lady. I'm so pleased to have finally met her; I'm just sorry that all my first-edition hardbacks are packed away. Hopefully, there will be an opportunity to get them signed at a future event.
Afterwards, Ali and I did go over to where Eleanor was interviewing Jen and Sarah, but the tent was packed. After standing in the hot sun for a while, Ali was like, "Let's go back to our cool tent." It was sort of good news/bad news in the land of literary fiction. It was never hard to get a seat, but there wasn't the audience there was for some of the other festival offerings. In any case, it was about time for Alma to begin speaking, and that will be the next post...
After getting her kids and hubbie settled in the children's village, Ali (AKA, novelist Allison Leotta) and
I walked across the City Hall grounds in time to hear novelist Keith Donohue
speak. Despite his novels being prominently displayed on my bookshelves, I have
not read him yet. I've always wanted to, but you know how it is. So many books,
so little time. Soon, Keith! But it was terrific to have a chance to hear him
speak and read.
At the top of this post, you'll see video of Keith's opening remarks to the audience, before he began reading from his most recent novel, Centuries of June. (Incidentally, he starts by referencing Eleanor Brown, who had introduced him. Ms. Brown is the author of the delightful The Weird Sisters, which I reviewed here.)
The first video clip ends right as Keith was about to read the opening pages of his novel. I have to confess that I did film him reading for about 12 minutes, but the little FlipCam I use is a very limited tool. The biggest problem is that it has no ability to focus. Second biggest is that it only holds two hours of video. Ultimately, I deleted the first reading in order to film more authors later in the day. Consequently, we skip the first reading and head directly into the Q & A:
As you can see, the first Q & A segement leads into another brief reading, which can be seen below:
And here is the final Q & A segment:
Ali and I chatted briefly with Keith after
his presentation, and he was very friendly. I kept running into him all day
after that and we kibitzed briefly each time. It was nice to see authors sticking around beyond their narrow
time-slot and attending their colleague's presentations. I saw this over and over all day. And there were other writers in the audience--ones who weren't speaking or signing at the festival--like Ali who was there hanging out with me. Case in point, sitting in the row in front of us was novelist Rebecca Coleman, but more on her in the next post...
Last Saturday, I had the great pleasure of attending the Gaithersburg Book Festival. I'm not kidding about it being a great pleasure! A little background... I spent my teen years in Gaithersburg, Maryland. I call DC my hometown, and it is, but Gaithersburg is the place I most associate with growing up. It's the place I remember best; it was where I spent my high school years. And, relatively speaking, it's a fairly sleepy little burg.
So imagine my surprise upon, after returning home for an extended visit, discovering that little ol' Gaithersburg has grown a world class literary festival--and after only three years! I'd never even heard about it in the prior two years, but now like the National Book Festival in DC, it's on my radar, and is enough of an event to merit a visit home in years to come.
Gaithersburg Council Member Jud Ashman
I actually got the whole back story late in the day when I ran into Gaithersburg Council Member Jud Ashman, who founded the festival. I didn't so much "run into him" as go up to him and introduce myself. I knew who he was, and wanted to congratulate him on a hugely successful event. I expected him to be too busy or too important or too whatever, but it turned out that he was a super friendly guy (politician, go figure) and we had a really lovely chat. He explained to me that in 2008, as the Bushes were leaving office, the future of the National Book Festival was in doubt. Per the Librarian of Congress, there was no guarantee that the Obama administration would fund it. (Because that Obama isn't nearly the book-lover that George Bush was. *rolls eyes*) Anyway, when Ashman heard about this, he feared that the region would have no book festival at all, and it was then he thought of bringing a festival to G'burg.
It's a modest enough idea for a modest town, but I'm fairly overwhelmed with the execution. I don't know what the first two years were like, but this year boasted over 110 authors, some local, some flying in from all over. Among them werecelebrities, #1 bestselling authors, and writers of every stripe. In addition to the many talks, interviews, and panel discussions taking place all day, there were many interesting exhibitors, writing workshops, and a truly magical "children's village." I know this because I spent part of my day with children, and man did they have a good time!
I spent the day in the company of my friend, novelist Allison Leotta, and her lovely family--including six-month-old beagle mix, Maggie. Let me tell you, if there was one star of the day, it was that puppy! Ali's husband took the kids for the better part of the day, and we took the puppy. Everywhere we went we were stopped by friendly dog-lovers. Everyone at the festival was so friendly, attendees and authors--several of whom with which I had really lovely interactions. It was a great day for community.
There's much more to tell, but happily, I brought my little FlipCam with me, so all weekend I'll be posting about the authors I saw, augmented by some admittedly shaky hand-held video. It is, as they say, better than nothing. For now, rest assured the next year's festival on May 18, 2013 is already on my calendar. And Mr. Ashman envisions a future when the city supports a multi-day festival. I'm so there!
