This past weekend was the 25th National Book Festival which was fascinating because it feels a little like we've always had one. But I am older than 25. So apparently we have not.
The romance panel was set for evening, so despite some fabulous looking panels in the morning, I knew I was going to need to pace myself. I arrived closer to lunch time, wandered through the exhibit hall area, where I collected some bookmarks.
Then I got in line for the panel with Tiffany D. Jackson and Paul Tremblay who were in conversation with Jummy Olabamji. Their recent books were both middle grade debuts for them. Jackson said she had seen some younger kids reader some of her YAs and wanted to write something for them. And Tremblay said he had a story idea for a 12 year old so it just happened that way. Both of them talked about having consumed a lot of TV and movies and thinking a little cinematically. Jackson was also a film major. And they both said reading widely is great if you want to become an author.
Then I went to see Shannon Chakraborty and Joe Abercrombie in conversation with Regina G. Barber. Chakraborty talked about research and how some of the tenth and eleventh century sources are super gossipy and fun, and how she takes seriously that some people encounter parts of history primarily through fantasy fiction and she wants those parts to represent the breadth of it. Abercrombie said after his first series he had realized he hadn't included many women and he started making sure to change that and found the stories are much more interesting when they have more types of people in them.
And then I took a little break from panelling and found a pre-line for the romance panel - romance readers often wear romance themed shirts, so you can always tell when you are in the right line. Also, shout out in general to the amazing shirts, dresses, and tote bags, both bookish themed, and DC pride themed. I, full disclosure, wore my What's more punk than a library shirt (hat tip to friends of the Mt. Pleasant Library) and spotted several others in the same shirt and we of course all complimented each other. I saw I read Smut shirts, Free DC shirts, Black romance reader shirts, I could go on. Book people are great.
And then I went to see Kennedy Ryan and Alexis Daria in conversation with Jenn White. Jenn White mentioned that often when she gets a call to talk to an author it is about something very serious. And that getting the call for this panel was a delight. She described going full armadillo as she read through these two books in two days, just reading. I am, by the way, totally stealing that full armadillo phrase.
Daria talked about how her first cousins had been her first friends, and that friends who are also family are such an interesting dynamic that she really wanted to explore. And that it was important to her that the love interests for each of these cousins respect and honor those cousin relationships.
Kennedy Ryan also talked about how finding your besties is just as important as finding your true love. And that coming from a journalism background, she does a lot of research, and even background interviews, before she gets going on her stories.
It was an absolutely delightful day. Thank you to everyone at the Library of Congress, and all the volunteers, who work almost year round to pull this event off.
