I've posted about this in other places, but I'm so incredibly proud of my wife Patty after the launch party on Friday evening for her short story collection "The Temple of Air" that I had to write something here, too.
More than seventy people came along to Women and Children First, the independent bookstore around the corner from our apartment in Chicago. And not all of them were Patty's friends, family, colleagues, or ex-students! This was a much bigger than average crowd for this venue, and in anticipation of this the bookstore had ordered more than double their normal consignment of books from Elephant Rock Books, the publisher of TTOA. Kathie Bergquist gave a wonderful introduction, and then Patty read one entire story, "Just Like That", which is one of my favourites from the collection. I heard her read it before another audience two years ago, and the same thing happened: people become spellbound, and then there's a moment towards the end when one of the characters reveals a piece of shattering news, and you can sense the entire audience catching their breath in a moment of collective, anticipated grief.
By the end of the evening, the store had only two books left. About 25 people came back to our apartment for champagne and cupcakes afterwards, and we toasted a great inaugural success for a brilliant writer and a wonderful collection of stories:
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More than seventy people came along to Women and Children First, the independent bookstore around the corner from our apartment in Chicago. And not all of them were Patty's friends, family, colleagues, or ex-students! This was a much bigger than average crowd for this venue, and in anticipation of this the bookstore had ordered more than double their normal consignment of books from Elephant Rock Books, the publisher of TTOA. Kathie Bergquist gave a wonderful introduction, and then Patty read one entire story, "Just Like That", which is one of my favourites from the collection. I heard her read it before another audience two years ago, and the same thing happened: people become spellbound, and then there's a moment towards the end when one of the characters reveals a piece of shattering news, and you can sense the entire audience catching their breath in a moment of collective, anticipated grief.
By the end of the evening, the store had only two books left. About 25 people came back to our apartment for champagne and cupcakes afterwards, and we toasted a great inaugural success for a brilliant writer and a wonderful collection of stories:
Subscribe to Praeterita in a reader