To help celebrate the grand reopening of the Columbus Metropolitan Library's main branch there was an author event and book signing with David Baldacci. I am currently working my way through his King and Maxwell series, but my Mom has read just about all of his books. She lives only a couple of hours away, so I invited her to attend as well.
From the time the doors opened at 1:00 until the presentation began at 2:00, we were treated to some classical music performed by members of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.
Then David Baldacci took the stage for about 45 minutes. His presentation was as engaging as any of his books, so I would highly recommend seeing him speak if you ever have the opportunity. He told several humorous stories about encounters with readers and events that have taken place while researching content for his books. He also discussed the fact that he was an avid reader as a child, which inspired him to write.
The one thing that caught the attention of my 11 year-old, who was forced to tag along, was the fact that he wrote the final book in the 39 Clues series. He discussed the differences between writing adult and children's books and how he was approached by Scholastic to write the final book in the 39 Clues series. He also discussed what it is like writing a book for a series like the 39 Clues, which has so many different authors. Preston and I just completed the fourth book in the series, but Baldacci wrote book 16, so we have a long way to go. Hopefully this presentation will inspire him to keep reading, which is always a good thing.
He also discussed his foundation, which was established to help "promote the development and expansion of new and existing literacy programs." He is a proponent for libraries in a time when decreased funding often hits libraries the hardest.
After his presentation there was a book signing. When I met him at BEA a few years ago I received a copy of his latest book, which I had personalized for my Mom for Christmas. It was part of a series I wasn't currently reading and I thought she would appreciate it more than I would. This time around I was able to get a couple of my books signed.
In addition, my son decided he wanted to have "his" book signed. The book he is currently reading is Flush by Carl Hiassen, which is one of the books he chose from the 6th grade summer reading list. It was really funny when Preston handed Baldacci the book. He looked at the fish on the page Preston wanted signed....then looked at the cover and laughed. He told Preston that he knows the author and his kids really enjoyed the book. He was a good sport and signed the book, which definitely made the little man's day.
