It went well, I thought. First, we had a surprising (to me) number of people show up for an event on 10:30 on a Saturday; I don’t mind telling you I was skeptical that anyone would show up at that hour. So to everyone who did: You’re awesome, and thank you.

In addition to my usual schtick of a reading and a Q&A, the library did a very nice thing and presented me with a plaque thanking me for the donations that were made through my Redshirts auction, and also dedicated a corner of the library to me — naturally, the corner where they keep all the science fiction works. I am of course genuinely touched by that, and told the folks there that what this means is that from now I can no longer get in any sort of trouble, because if they do, they might take the plaque down. And, you know. That would be bad.

I read from Redshirts and from The Shadow War of the Night Dragons, but I also read this piece from my Thanksgiving Advent calendar, in which I discussed why I was thankful I lived in Bradford. As I was reading it I was very surprised to find myself choking up; reading it in front of a hometown audience got to me, and I’m an easy crier in any event. Fortunately no one seemed to mind.

It’s a little nervewracking to do a public event in your hometown; if you flub it up, everyone will see you in the IGA later, and that’s not good. So I’m glad everyone seemed happy with the event.

And now I need a nap. Catch you all a bit later.

And leaves an interesting and explanatory comment on his decision to write on the Clarke Award selections this year. The comment is here, and I commend it to folks wishing to have further context to what has become science fiction’s polemical event of the year (at least until the Hugo slate comes out exactly one week from now).

Also, I’ll go ahead and put this out there right now, which is that folks who choose to respond directly to Mr. Priest’s comments here should keep in mind that I have comment policies, and that I police them with the Mallet of Loving Correction. Christopher Priest left a good and useful comment; see that you do the same.