Wednesday, April 22, 2015

LA Times Festival of Books

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books was last weekend--and was it ever fun!

This was the 20th year of the LATFOB, and the fifth year at the USC campus.  I've attended quite a few of the festivals over the past years, including when it was held at the UCLA campus.

This year, I attended both days, and my commute was easy since I live within easy driving distance of Universal Studios and the LA Metro stop that's there.  As a result, I took the subway and then transferred to the train to the USC campus. 

On Saturday, I signed books at the Mysterious Galaxy bookstore booth which was part of the mystery complex at the festival.  I was delighted that copies of my newest mystery, BITE THE BISCUIT, were there even though its official publication date isn't until May 8.

Later that day I helped to staff the Mystery Writers of America booth, where I told people about the great organization MWA is.  I've been a member for a long time and really enjoy it. 

In between, I wandered around visiting lots of bookstore and other booths and grabbing lunch and listening briefly to people speaking at some of the outdoor stages.  I didn't get tickets for any of the indoor talks or panels this year, though.  And then I took the trains back home. 

On Sunday, I came early to make sure I arrived in advance of my 10 AM signing at the Sisters in Crime booth.  It's another great organization and I also talked it up while additionally signing books that were sold there by another wonderful independent bookstore, Mystery Ink.  And yes, I currently write for the publisher Midnight Ink so I have to be careful when I talk about one or the other to ensure I mention the right one! 

Later, I was a volunteer at another booth--the one representing two Romance Writers of America chapters, Los Angeles and Orange County.  There, I happily handed out cards allowing people to download an anthology of very short and very romantic stories published by the LA chapter--and I even bought a hard copy to read myself. 

That booth was near one of the outside stages, and I was delighted that one of the speakers while I was there was Candice Bergen!  I've enjoyed seeing her on TV in many shows for quite a while and had just seen her that week in a role in Battle Creek, so it was particularly fun seeing and hearing her. 

So will I attend the LATFOB next year?  I most certainly intend to!

Did you attend any reading or writing events last weekend?  Anything coming up?

2 comments:

Betty Hechtman said...

I'm glad to hear your time at the Festival of Books worked out so well. You really covered a lot of bases.

Linda O. Johnston said...

I always find the Festival fun, Betty. I'm glad that this year one of the booths was about romances and that they're considering doing it again next year. But I've had many years where I enjoy just going from one mystery booth to the next!