As I was walking to the University of Michigan campus Friday morning, on my way to the Ann Arbor Book Festival‘s writers conference, I met up with publishing consultant Kevin Smokler, who gave me a quick tour of the downtown area, including a glimpse of the small storefront that was the original home of Borders, which is just a half-block away from the slightly bigger space where the “first” store in the chain currently holds sway; just down the street, the indie shop Shaman Drum holds its ground (helped in part by the UofM course book concession).
That afternoon’s panel on “blogging for the serious writer,” where I spoke with Claudia Mair Burney, went really well; she had a lot to say about how becoming a published writer, and seeing a wave of new readers come to her blog, led her to decide that she could no longer write as openly as she once had, and how she elected to quit the blog (and, admittedly, launch a new, pseudonymous site somewhere else). After we were done fielding questions, I was glad that I got to spend a quick moment chatting with Maureen Freely, though I would very much have welcomed more time to discuss her novel, Enlightenment, which I had started reading on the flight over the previous evening. And later, at the reception, I caught up with Daniel Radosh, who was somewhat nonplussed when a woman came up to us, held her blue napkin up to his lighter-blue sweater, then attempted to place the squared napkin in his jacket, only to discover that his breast pocket was sewn shut. As I left to catch my plane back home, I did my best to make sure Radosh got to meet David Kipen and Ken Foster, with whom I’d been chatting earlier about potential “Big Read” books that might engage younger readers. (I nominated Starship Troopers; there may be a reason the NEA hasn’t tapped me for this program beyond simple oversight.)