Not only was I lucky enough to make a trip all the way down to Books and Books in Coral Gables for Chris Colfer's The Land of Stories: A Grimm Warning book signing, I was able to make a trip down there again, a week later, for a book signing with the incredible Deborah Harkness.
When I first read her book, A Discovery of Witches, she was not that popular. Sure, among bookworms, word of mouth was spreading that "this book is incredible!" and so on, but it was not nearly as popular as it was when its sequel, Shadow of Night, came out.
Like most series, as each book in the All Souls Trilogy came out, they became more and more popular. So when a huge crowd showed up at the book signing for the last book in the All Souls Trilogy, I was not surprised. Now, we're not talking Chris Colfer crowd big, but on a scale from one hundred to five hundred, the amount of people leaned towards the latter number.
(Waiting in line to get books signed and pictures)
Due to a time constraint and the size of the crowd that showed up to the event, Books and Books decided that it would be best to first have Ms Harkness sign books and take pictures with fans, and then head over to the opposite side of the store for a talk (and then sign more books afterwards). It worked out perfectly! Each fan received special treatment and undivided attention from our star of the hour.
So I headed to the left side of the store for book signings and pictures.
(Deborah Harkness meets The Literary Connoisseur...)
(And The Little Connoisseur!)
After a quick chat with the incredibly personable and lovely Deborah Harkness, she signed all three of my All Souls Trilogy books, and a few bookmarks for the road!
And now it was time to walk back over to the right side of the store for a talk with Ms Harkness, a few readings from her third book in the trilogy, The Book of Life, a brief history of her life as an author, and a quick Q&A with the crowd! (I met some of the most incredible people while waiting to see Deborah Harkness...but of course I did, I was at a book signing, surrounded by book lovers!)
(The crowd for Deborah Harkness' talk)
I cannot even begin to say how incredible my birthday month has been so far! Once again, thank you to my parents for making it so special and for accompanying me all the way down to Coral Gables, thank you Books and Books for running such a magical event, and thank you Deborah Harkness for being so amazing, kind, compassionate, and loving! The combination of these wonderful people made this book signing one of the best EVER!
About Deborah Harkness:
I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and have lived in western Massachusetts, the Chicago area, Northern California, upstate New York, and Southern California. In other words, I’ve lived in three out of five time zones in the US! I’ve also lived in the United Kingdom in the cities of Oxford and London.
For the past twenty-eight years I’ve been a student and scholar of history, and received degrees from Mount Holyoke College, Northwestern University, and the University of California at Davis. During that time I researched the history of magic and science in Europe, especially during the period from 1500 to 1700. The libraries I’ve worked in include Oxford’s Bodleian Library, the All Souls College Library at Oxford, the British Library, London’s Guildhall Library, the Henry E. Huntington Library, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the Newberry Library—proving that I know my way around a card catalogue or the computerized equivalent. These experiences have given me a deep and abiding love of libraries and a deep respect for librarians. Currently, I teach European history and the history of science at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
My previous books include two works of non-fiction: John Dee’s Conversations with Angels: Cabala, Alchemy, and the End of Nature(Cambridge University Press, 1999) and The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution (Yale University Press, 2007). It has been my privilege to receive fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the National Humanities Center. And I was honored to receive accolades for my historical work from the History of Science Society, the North American Conference on British Studies, and the Longman’s/History Today Prize Committee.
In 2006, I took up my keyboard and entered the world of blogging and Twitter. My wine blog, Good Wine Under $20, is an online record of my search for the best, most affordable wines. These efforts have been applauded by the American Wine Blog Awards, Saveur.com, Wine & Spirits magazine, and Food & Wine magazine. My wine writing has also appeared on the website Serious Eats and in Wine & Spirits magazine.
My career in fiction began in September 2008 when I began to wonder “if there really are vampires, what do they do for a living?” A Discovery of Witches is the unexpected answer to that question. The book debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list, and was also a bestseller in the UK, France, and Germany. Thirty-eight foreign editions and translations will be published. The story of Diana and Matthew continues in Shadow of Night(published in 2012, it debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list) and coming on July 15, 2014, The Book of Life, the third book of the All Souls Trilogy.
Deborah's Books:
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