Today was spent on the campus of the University of Southern California at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. What better way to start the day at USC than by listening to the USC Marching Band? Well, twenty of them anyway. And I didn't really listen to them. I was busy wandering through the booths that were all around.
Let me explain. The Festival of Books is an annual event sponsored by the LA Times and Target that brings authors / vendors / publishers and just about anyone else associated with books together in one place over the course of one weekend in April. When we have gone in the past, I much prefer to wander the many booths and talk to authors / vendors / whomever and get as much free stuff as possible and even purchase a book or two. Joanna, on the other hand, prefers to go to listen to the various authors (mostly the celebrities that she knows). Today was no different.
While Joanna wanted to listen (at various times) to Florence Henderson, Julie Andrews, Betty White, LA Times Columnist, Chris Erskine and a few others, I managed to wander the booths. Everything from finding a company that (for a small fee) will read my manuscript and make editorial comments regarding what works, what doesn't and even assist me in getting it ready to send to an agent for representation. Since I haven't had an actual editor read my novel, this sounds like a good idea. However, I also got some information on the Greater Los Angeles Writers Association, which (again for a small membership fee), would probably do the same thing. It's something to think about, either way.
One great thing that happened was that I met two authors of a brand new book: So You Created A Wormhole - The Time Traveler's Guide to Time Travel. Roll your eyes if you must, but as I walked by the booth that these two men were at (for Mysterious Galaxies Bookstore), they didn't have anyone talking to them and were simply sitting there. I wanted to be polite and so I went and talked to them about their book. It's a parody and humor book, obviously, but it has some very practical information. I was intrigued by the concept (and the pretty pictures . . . . . and the fact that they were all alone) that I chose to purchase a copy of the book and have the two men sign it. The funny part was that despite the fact that they wrote a humor novel, it took them a minute before they were able to come up with something clever to write. Luckily they used something we had already discussed regarding Skynet (see: The Terminator films), Chess and Global Thermonuclear War (see: Wargames).
But, the best part of the day (should it really be considered that?) happened as we were attempting to leave. As we approached the area that would lead us to the parking structure, we were stopped by an attendant saying that we had to go around a specific area and basically go the long way to our car. As we walked by that specific area, we saw A LOT of police officers and security. Now, I'm all for safety but by having that many police concentrated in one area, it was a sure sign that something was up. I quickly jumped on the Internet to find out what was going on to no avail. Whatever it was, no one but the police knew. But, luckily (or not) as we were walking into the structure, we saw two more police vehicles speed by with the words "Bomb Squad" painted on their doors. It was then that we wanted to high tail it out of there.
Later in the evening we saw an article, in the LA Times no less, that stated that the bomb threat was nothing serious and that the bad that had been suspicious was merely that - a bag - with rolled up papers in it. But it still cost the City of Los Angeles A LOT of money for all those officers, the bomb squad and the fire department to come check it out. Like I said, though, I like safety and I'm glad that the police were aware and had the foresight to check it out, even if it was not real. Good for them.
I shall close with this: Books are fun. Free stuff is fun. And putting the two together makes them even better.
Until tomorrow.
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