Loosely Bound: Tales of My Literary Life (3)

Books and Baseball

So, what do books and baseball have to do with one another? Nothing really except I LOVE them both! And today is the season opener and I can't wait! In celebration, my husband took this cheesy picture of me with my Minnesota Twins hat on!

Hoot! Hoot! Can't wait! And due to the fact that this is the second year for our lovely new stadium, tickets are hard to come by. I managed to get a few. My dad even managed to get a game against the Yankees, the team I love to hate!

Suck it, Jeter! (oh, wait, sorry that was inappropriate!) HA! I get a little gruff when it comes to baseball. I cuss like a sailor and swig beer like there's no tomorrow. Surprised? Most people are. It's like the red headed evil child comes out!

Anyhoo...

This month's post from my Literary Life will not be all about baseball because really, do you come here to read about that?! Doubt it.

Nope, this month's posts is about Author Events and how I love them. Call them whatever you like; Autograph signings, Book Signings, Author Tours, whatever. I tend to go back to my bookstore days of WORKING them, so I call them Author Events.

I have been to a fair amount thoughout the years and some have been inspring and some have fallen flat. You know the feeling? You gear up for meeting the person behind the wonderful words you like to read and they have the personality of a cardbox box. It's happened a few times but nothing horrible really to divulge. Just a tad bit disappointing.

For instance, I LOVE The Time Traveler's Wife and when I saw Audrey Niffennegger at a Library event some years back I was so excited. Unfortunately, she seemed a bit shy and awkward speaking in front of a crowd and it was hard to hear her most of the time. I dare say, it was a bit boring. Still love her and her books though, just not a very jazzy event.

The gems I have been able to see stick in my mind; Kate DiCamillo, Chuck Palahniuk, Jodi Picoult and most recently, last night actually, Joyce Carol Oates.

Joyce Carol Oates spoke at our Central Library in downtown Minneapolis as part of the Talk of the Stacks program. It's a library hosted program that features various acclaimed authors, reading and answering questions about their work.

Well, I rushed from my own library job to downtown thinking I had plenty of time but my friend was furiously texting me to hurry because she couldn't save seats for too long. It sold out in a matter of five minutes and the open auditorium was closed when I got there. So I had to sit in the small over flow room and watch her on a screen. Oh well! I made friends and even handed out a business card to my site.

This event apparently was the largest ever with over 600 people in attendance. AMAZING!

Go books! Go authors! I love that when it happens.

For those of you who don't know Joyce Carol Oates, she is an amazing author of over 50 novels. She was reading from her newest book, her memoir A Widow's Story.

It is the story of losing her husband of 46 years back in 2008 and the grieving process that she went through. Though I haven't read it, she was powerful in her reading of some of the chapters.

I felt her emotion, her anguish, her craziness.

As I said before, when you are a fan of an author and get to see them in person, you really hope that they speak and act in the way in which they write.

She certainly did. She had an awkward elegance that comes from living a life in your head. She was careful with her speech and the words she chose to explain an event. I could tell she was extraordinarily smart and aware. She was amazing to listen to.

These are the novels I have read by her and I am certainly going to continue to read her.

The Falls, The Gravedigger's Daughter, Man Crazy, and Foxfire.

Author Events are such an important piece of my literary life. I really try to get to them when I can. I am fortunate to live in a city that is host to wonderful literary events all year round. Luckily most of them are free and that helps. It's important to support that piece of the book business. Showing your support to an author is a strong sign to the publisher that they are loved and in demand. And it shows to the author that their craft is appreciated.

Next up, my friend Dawn and I will be seeing Lisa See,

author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

How about all of you? Have you had the chance to see your favorite author? Or just seen any great Authors in person?

Happy Reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child