One of our regular contributors recently returned from Harrogate Crime
Writing Festival, which was held in the resort town of Harrogate in northern
England. Her experiences included speaking with Mark Billingham, Simon
Kernick, Stuart MacBride, Alexander McCall Smith, Reginald Hill, Michael
Connelly and Val McDermid. She shared how these writers were very accessible
and made themselves available in the evening for a drink with their fans
or just to chat.
I recalled when I had meet Val McDermid and Ian Rankin during Wordfest
in Calgary AB and while it was an intimate setting with a limited number
of tickets available, it had the unfortunate hallmarks that too many of
these events share. Contact with the author was restricted to brief book
signing and a twenty second conversation consisting of generic ‘I
really enjoyed your book, you are one of my favorite authors’ statement
with the customary ‘Well, I am glad you enjoyed it’ reply.
The author and reader relationship is an unusual one in our society because
the author is an unusual celebrity, a person creates a world with provocative
or exotic locations filled with characters loved or reviled. We are taken
on a journey to see the world through new eyes and experience events and
situations outside of our own lives.
Too often though, the author is presented like a typical celebrity. Their
contact with their readers is limited to the book signing and interviews
with talking heads whose cue card questions give no insight into the author
at all and too often are frustrating for the reader to watch.
That is why I was so pleased to hear about my colleague’s very positive
experience at Harrogate. Having a chance to speak with your favorite author “over
a pint” is the way it should be.
It is my hope that we will start to see more of these kinds of conferences
in North America and less of the talking heads asking the same ten questions
we already know the answers to. |
