Living in the DC metro has it’s perks, two being the National Book Festival and the Baltimore Book Festival, all in one weekend!
On Saturday morning I joined a good friend of mine, alone with her daughter & friend, and attended the National Book Festival on the Mall with 150,000 book lovers. The weather was dreadful: sunny and hot. That didn’t stop me from plopping down on the ground (all the seats were full!) to listen to several of my favorite authors speak.
I spent most of my time in the Fiction tent, listening to Diana Gabaldon, Elizabeth Kostova, Julia Glass and Ken Follett. Here are a few tidbits I picked up from a few of the authors.
- Diana Gabaldon writes from midnight to 4 am.
- Her next book, Lord John & the Scottish Prisoner, will release in the fall of 2012
- Outlander is optioned for a movie, with Scottish actor Allan Scott-Douglas playing the role of Jamie
- It took Elizabeth Kostova 10 years to write The Historian, a book she mainly wrote in secret. It took her four years to write The Swan Thieves.
- The Historian will be hitting the silver screen! Sony/Columbia will be making the movie.
- Kostova is a fan of Victorian fiction and specifically appreciated how Bram Stoker wrote Dracula (through a series of letters) and so that is how she wrote The Historian.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get many pictures of the event. I was sitting on the side of the stage (along with Swapna from S.Krishna’s Books, Julie from Booking Mama, Candace from Beth Fish Reads and Deborah from Books, Movies Chinese Food) and it wasn’t exactly the optimal spot for picture-taking!
I had to leave early to fulfill my mom-role; my oldest son had his black-belt test that evening (he did great by the way!). Despite the heat, it was a wonderful day!
Check back later for Part Two of my Wonderfully Bookish Weekend in which I discuss the Baltimore Book Festival!
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