Book Event Report: Detroit


Hello! I'm back from my internet break.

This fall I've got loads of book-related stuff going on. It was supposed to be a "tour," but it's morphed into this sprawling conglomeration of book events taking place mostly during September and October, and I'm going to try to blog them all, hopefully with pictures. No pictures for this report because I forgot my camera, but next time.

First up, the Detroit Book Festival.

Oh my gosh, what a crazy day this was!

I left home at 8:30 am, caught a direct flight to Detroit (a direct flight from the *Eastern Iowa Airport* is a rare and beautiful thing!). The "car" and driver drove me to Kensington Metro Park outside the city, a pretty area. I arrived a little early, so after checking in I wandered around the festival to see what it was all about. There was a climbing wall, and face painting, cotton candy, and booths for various local attractions, and a sandy beach and lake, with sailboats zooming around. Loads of people, lots of little kids.

After nomming some lunch in the "performers tent," I went and sat up on the side of a hill in the shade to see the children's stage. They'd set up little plastic chairs for the kids, and the authors who read, both picture-book writers, sat in the Big Red Chair. The audiences were pretty sparse, lots of people wandering by eating ice cream.

According to the schedule, I was up after "Hip Hop Harry."

So I'm sitting on the hillside watching as that show started. A big crowd gathered. The music started, very loud hip hoppy stuff, and this guy comes out, low jeans, sideways baseball cap, talk-rapping about Hip Hop Harry. "He's pretty good," I thought. But no! He was only the intro guy--then, out came Hip Hop Harry. A break-dancing, rapping bear! Not a real bear, a guy in a bear costume. It was 95 degrees out there--I wouldn't wish that bear costume on my worst enemy--and he's leaping around the stage. All these "positive message" raps about washing your hands and being nice to your friends. So funny; I had a good laugh. So I went down to the tent behind the stage and got miked and joked with the next author up after me (Mark Crilley! Who did the Akiko books!) about having to follow the dancing bear (!). Harry comes off the stage and rips off the bear head. "Five minutes," he gasps, standing in front of the fan, dripping with sweat. "I just need five minutes." Poor guy!

Then it was my turn! The audience just melted away--after his five minute recovery Harry was signing (or maybe paw printing?) CD's in the signing tent. A couple of people stayed while I did my author schtick, and then I went over and signed just two books. So pretty much a bust in that area. But it was *great* practice for me--I had fun up on the stage, and a couple people drifted over during my reading, including some ice-cream eating kids who seemed to get into it.

I rode back to the airport with Roger Day, a super nice guy and children's performer who'd been the MC, and we had a really interesting conversation about book publishing vs the music industry. The flight home was on time. I got home exactly 12 hours after I'd left.

So not exactly a big promotion for the book, but a great learning experience for me. Target put on a good show; very well organized.

Still, the break-dancing, rapping bear. Tough act to follow, don't you think?