Fall for the Book on the Horizon

For those of you who have marked your calendars, you know Fall for the Book is going to start Sunday, September 19.

I will be among the crush of people trying to meet Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain.

I won't be among those in the crush trying to meet Kathryn Stockett, which disappoints me to no end. Apparently the event planners decided she was too popular to allow us to determine who would attend her event, so it was ticketed. And these required free tickets were gone within a half hour, distributed by an overwhelmed staff that couldn't keep up with demands.

I expected someone of her stature to be in the biggest venue on the Fairfax campus. The Help has been on the bestseller list for the better part of a year, and the movie based on it already is in production. Instead, she's in Reston, at a venue I've never visited. Perhaps I shouldn't malign the venue, but I can't imagine it would have more seating than the Center for the Arts, where Carole, Collin, Corinne and I saw Chinua Achebe last year without tickets.

Let me repeat that:
Chinua Achebe
without tickets
at the Center for the Arts.

And no one got hurt.

But enough of the sour grapes.

There are some great authors at this year's event.  David and I will attend the discussion of The Poisoner's Handbook with author Deborah Blum at NVCC-Loudoun.

Carole and her mom Lynn will see Ann Patchett at George Mason University (and get my books signed for me while I'm in Loudoun County).

Novelists, poets, non-fiction writers, bloggers and more will fill the venues all over the metro DC area with a plethora of literature and books.

The following weekend is the National Book Festival — visit that website and see what fabulous authors will be in the District that day.

See you at Fall for the Book!

Update: I am seeing Kathryn Stocket, thanks to my friend Joanna.  The pressing of sour grapes into whine now may cease.  

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