Monday, March 21, 2011

Festival! Of Books! In Virginia!

For the past few years, I’ve attended the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville, VA. Held in March, it’s a week-long (give or take) celebration of books.

What could be better than that?

Although I’m tempted by a number of programs throughout the Festival, I only make the two-hour drive for Crime Wave Saturday. All day long, there are panels and talks about crime fiction. In a word: awesome.

In the past, I’ve been one of the many (thousands) of mystery lovers attending the panels. This year, I was thrilled to be on a panel.

And it was a very, very good panel. Moderated by Cliff Garstang, my fellow panelists were John Connolly, Deanne Raybourn, and Paul Robertson. I was thoroughly entertained (if not thoroughly entertaining). From the audience’s feedback, I think (hope) they were entertained as well. (Note to self: work on Irish accent.)

VA Festival 2011 panel

(The panel, with me hogging the mic, as usual. Photo courtesy of Alma Katsu, whose debut novel, THE TAKER, comes out this Fall from Simon & Schuster/Gallery.)

After my panel, I attended a superb luncheon, featuring Kathy Reichs as the keynote speaker. I didn’t even freak out when I discovered cheese in my entrée.

In the afternoon, I had a chance to catch up with some of my writer friends, make some new mystery-loving friends, and enjoy a stroll down the pedestrian mall in downtown Charlottesville.

All in all, a terrific day. If you live in Virginia, put this on your calendar for next year. You won’t be sorry!


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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Alan - Sounds like you had a terrific time. I'm glad the panel went so well. Wish I lived in the area...

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

I bet you kept them all entertained! Nice panel, too. Glad you had such a great day on Saturday. :)

Alan Orloff said...

Thanks, Margot and Elizabeth. It was a ton of fun!