I thought I was done for good with appearing in public when I participated in a panel at the Washington Writer's Convention last fall, but it turns out I'll have at least one more chance to stand on a stage and talk about writing this afternoon. With the book's official release date now being a year in the past, it's pretty likely this will be the last chance I have like this, at least for this book. If you're in the area, come on out. Maybe I'll figure out a way to say something about writing and the book I haven't already said before.
One of the fun and sometimes funny things about appearing at these things is the array of writers who participate. At the Washington convention in the spring, I was on a panel with: a writer of a wistful, critically acclaimed literary novel on Hannibal, Missouri; the author of a non-fiction book an the experiences of young women right after college; and the author of a history book on a little-known Civil War era civilian chronicler. I was also the only man on the panel then. It made for an interesting discussion.
Today at the Baltimore Book Festival, There will be three of us presenting at an event called "Introducing Writers Who Deserve Their Own Light." The other two are Tyrese Coleman, who, like me, tends to sail in literary fiction waters. However, she seems to focus a lot more on flash fiction. There is also Shakira Rayann. When the presser for this event called her a "teen author," I thought that meant she wrote for teens. She does, but what it really means is that she is literally a teen-aged writer.
It's funny the way writers who are as different as can be get mixed together at these things. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the people who came to hear one of the other writers quietly slip away as soon as I get going. Rayann seems to write inspirational fare for younger women readers. I'm about as far away from inspirational writing as it gets.
I am, however, somewhat inspired to be part of this thing today. I attended the Baltimore Book Festival a few years ago, back when my first story hadn't appeared yet. I really didn't imagine I'd be a presenter at it. As I try to move forward, I keep feeling discouraged about all the things I haven't done yet, but today I think I'm going to let myself enjoy the fact that I have at least gotten somewhere.
How did it go?
ReplyDeleteAbout how I figured. We were the last time slot of the day, so the crowd had thinned out by the time we went. The stage we were on was also behind schedule, so that meant we were even later. I was the last of the three of us to read. There were, as I guessed, some people there to hear the other readers who left after they read. But I've read in front of smaller crowds, and two people came up to me afterwards to say they liked what I read. It was also a beautiful day to be out at the Inner Harbor, and by the time we got done, it was dark, which was the first time I've even been at the Inner Harbor after dark. So all in all, not a bad way to spend a day.
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