A Busy — and Fun — Weekend!
It was back to back fun this past weekend as I attended the 19th Annual Maryland Writer’s Association Writer’s Conference and the Kensington International Day of the Book celebration! And we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful weekend for both events. Once again, I had a chance to meet many wonderful people and sign a lot of books — whether at my presentation on “How to Write for Young Adults” at the MWA conference or in the conference’s book store on Saturday, or at my booth and the “open mic” reading at the Kensington fair…
I hope to have some pictures from the MWA conference soon, but in the meantime here are the highlights from the Kensington event.
We arrived early enough to set up under a tent at the north end of Howard Avenue, which had been dubbed “La Rambla” according to International Day of the Book tradition.
As promised, we had a special visit from the inimitable Mr. Holmes and his trusted assistant, Dr. Watson. The master detective was most generous with his time as he regaled young and old alike with tales of his many adventures foiling the dastardly deeds of London’s nefarious criminal element. There were many mystery fans and writers at the fair, so you can imagine how popular he was!
MWA conference attendees ended up occupying a whole row of tables at the Kensington event, which allowed us a chance to continue the fun from the day before. Along with me were Mat Gill, author of the suspense thriller Leaving the Canoe Club; Karen Syed, author and owner of Echelon Press Publishing; and Cynthia Polansky, author of the novels Far Above Rubies and Remote Control. A little further down the winding road was Austin Camacho, author of the Hannibal Jones Mysteries and the Stark & O’Brien Adventures. What great company to be in!
When you attend an open-air festival, you always try to expect the unexpected. And I had two big surprises — one very welcome, and the other one … well, let’s just say that outdoor events don’t always work alongside railroad tracks! 
The welcome surprise was a visit by Dr. Conner, who had been our chiropractor when I lived in Silver Spring (not far from where the Kensington festival was held). She was visiting the festival with a friend of hers from out of town, and happened to see me as she walked by. Hugs all around for Mary Jo and me and a chance to get caught up with a dear friend — and then she bought six copies of my book! One for each of her nieces and nephews, and one for her too!
The other surprise came when it was time for me to read at the open mic. The emcee introduced me, I went up to the podium, opened up the book — and then, sure enough, a big huge noisy freight train rounded the corner! We had to wait about five minutes for it to pass. The kids loved it, of course, but it seemed to go on forever. I tried a soft-shoe dance routine to kill the time, but I’m out of practice. Back at the booth later, Mary Jo told me that when she heard the train, she immediately guessed what had happened!
I’ll write some more about the MWA Conference in a separate entry. But I hope this gives you a hint of what a fun weekend we had!
May 3rd, 2007 at 8:53 am
Hello Paul, I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet you at the event in Kensington. I was set up across the street in fact you caught me in the white shirt near the green umbrella talking to a fellow about Vietnam. I’m glad I didn’t have that train to contend with. A speaker in front of me had a problem with a dog barking like crazy during her piece, which was rather disconcerting. My only problem with the open mic was my nerves, but somehow I managed. take care, Tom
May 5th, 2007 at 6:21 am
Hi, Tom! Thanks for writing. From the picture, I remember seeing you. When did you read? I wish I had heard you. Well, there’s always next year! Did you have a successful day? There were a lot of people there, and so many of them were in the mood to linger, leaf through books, and talk with authors. It’s a great way to connect with people about the stories we’ve written.
Cheers,
Paul
May 5th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Hello Paul, I was scheduled to read at 4:05, but by that time things were running about half an hour behind. I had a great day. I only sold a couple books, but like you mentioned, we get to talk to people about the stories we’ve written. My goal in writing Light Ruck, was to let people know of the sacrifices and honorable service of our Vietnam Vets. A sunny afternoon on Howard St. was the perfect time and place to do that.
take care, Tom