We spent the day in DC today at the Book Festival and then at the Edward Hopper exhibit. We got down there about 10 or so and Mr. Pointy Sticks and his friend went off to park the car after dropping us (me, my daughter and her friend) right by the mall, which was awfully sweet of them. We walked into one of the Book Sale tents…the lines were unbelievable and only the latest books by the authors who were present were available. It was much smaller than the LA Festival of Books that we visited in early in the summer. And there were no book dealers or publishing companies participating. Just two Book Sale tents, a bunch of large tents with seating for the authors to speak at and a bunch of tiny tent for the book signings.
We were there to see Terry Pratchett and, we hoped, get our copies of Making Money signed. And perhaps have a chance to grovel at the master’s feet a little. But first, he was speaking. So we headed over to the Fiction and Fantasy tent and found seats.
We were there early so first we heard from Lalita Tademy, the author of Cane River and Red River. She was very interesting - she had worked her way up to being vice-president at Sun Microsystems (don’t know if I got the name right) and quit to “find herself.” (Her mother’s comment had been “I’ll find you if you need finding.” She was not pleased that her daughter had thrown this job aside. ) She talked about the Colfax Rebellion in which some of her ancestors lost their lives. She first saw monuments and such to this as a child but her grown relatives refused to talk about it. So she started doing research. And that research into her family led to Cane River. Then in Red River she writes about the rebellion, in which freed blacks tried to hold out for their right to vote in this town but were defeated and massacred. She was a great speaker. She said her mother accepted her new career after her first book did so well that she was on TV and her mother’s pastor called to ask if she would speak to the church.
She ended her remarks and headed off to sign books and there was a lot of shuffling in the tent and we thought perhaps we could get seats a little closer. So the three of us (Mr. Pointy Sticks and his friend being off doing their own thing…not Pratchett fans) tried to get closer. Well, my daughter and her friend got seats closer….but I ended up right back in the row we had left. Sigh. Was lucky to find a seat at all, actually. And then, there he was.
He was a wonderful speaker. It was somewhat worrisome when he started off saying that a scan a few months ago showed that he was “losing brain cells.” Apparently, he said, he had some sort of “incident” a couple of years ago….”but things were so busy, I never noticed.” Yikes. I want Terry to live a long and productive life. He talked a bit about the next book, which will be called Nation. He said it was hard not to talk about it because it was so in the forefront of his brain. He also talked about the movie that will be coming out soon - based on The Color of Magic - which will star Sean Astin…and some very famous English actor as the Patrician. He wouldn’t tell us who, but he said when he heard who it was, he went and wrote more dialogue for him, dialog, he said, that only this actor could deliver. And then, when he read the dialog to a friend, the friend immediately guessed who the actor was. I hope we can get to see it here in the US.
What else….? He said he is thinking of another Moist von Lipwig book, perhaps called Raising Taxes. And has the plans for another Tiffany Aching book. He talked about the process of writing, which he said was like being dragged behind a very large stainless steel bulldozer, usually with his head banging on stones. Also said he just sat down and waited for his eyes to bleed. Talked about writing Good Omens and that there were parts that neither he nor Neil remember writing…they are both convinced the other one did it…or some other mysterious person did.
He ended by saying he wanted to leave us with a little philosophy. He said that he and his family moved into a house close to a famous standing stone that, at Midsummer under a full moon, would dance around the field. And if you could go into the field and get to the gold that was buried under the stone before it came back and squashed you flat, you could keep it. He said he was always scared to drive by the field at night, especially around Midsummer. “Why?” a friend asked. “Are you afraid you’ll see the stone dancing?” “No,” he said, “I’m afraid I won’t.” Then he said, “It’s a world now that is full of Homeland Security and terrorists and wars and factories and people. But wouldn't it be nice if there was always a little space in this world for a stone to dance?”
He headed off and we headed over to where he was going to be signing books. He was signing from 1-2 and we were there at 12:30. There were 11 or 12 lines, with about 75 people in each line waiting for the signing. My daughter and I got into the 9th line…and waited. And it was hot. And dusty. And at 20 to 2, there were still three or four lines full of people ahead of us. I didn’t know if he would keep signing after 2, though I’d be willing to bet he did, but I was hot and hungry and really, I thought….if we stepped out, that’s two fewer books he has to sign. I was willing to stick it out as long as my daughter wanted to, but once she and her friends decided that they'd had it, I was ready to step away. So we gave up and headed over to the Smithsonian. Met up with Mr. Pointy Sticks and his friend, who had been listening to Jack Prelusky and enjoying that.
Had a very expensive lunch at the Smithsonian and then waded through the Hopper exhibit, which was crowded but, man, there were some lovely paintings! You don't realize (at least I didn't) from the reproductions you see just how much these paintings glow. They are just full of light. And you know, there was Night Hawks…and it is so familiar and so quoted…but it really just strikes you dead when you see it. Incredible piece. I think my favorite may have been one of the last paintings he did which is just the sunlight coming into an empty room. Beautiful.
Headed home then and I am wiped tonight. I did get two (count ‘em, 2!) repeats done on my Secret Pal’s scarf. Going down, I was in the back of the van and it was just too bumpy to do much more than one repeat. I knit another repeat waiting for Terry Pratchett to read. (And got a woman in the row in front of me salivating over the cashmere.) Didn’t want to do any on the ride home because I just felt too grubby.
Here’s hoping I can get this posted….
1 comment:
Sounds like a fabulous day.
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