It was standing room only at my presentation at the ULA/MPLA Library Conference in Salt Lake City on May 1. The room was packed and people were out in the hall and on the floor up front. My presentation was done with Ruth Hanson of Reading For the Future of Utah (RFFU) and we spoke about shaping young minds with genre fiction. It was great and I really loved the crowd. Hey, I have a thing for librarians. (smile and a wink)
My friend, Mary Anne Heider helped me get the gig and I'm so thankful to her. I'm also thankful to Ruth, a great lady with a vision for the future. The non-profit she runs is all about donating books to kids. Ruth is also putting together a free CD with short stories from Utah writers called the Utah Project. It'll be ready to go soon, I think, and will be downloadable from the RFFU web site at some point. Check it out when you can.
Anyway, librarians are just a great bunch and they love books, probably more than I do, which is saying a lot. I totally want to go to more library conferences. It really helped that Library Journal and VOYA Magazine gave my novel great reviews. The reviews were awesome and the librarians really supported me at my book signing. It felt wonderful to sell that many books. Sam Weller's, a fabulous bookstore in Salt Lake, handled my signing. Shari and Katherine are really nice people. Sam Weller's has some signed copies of The Golden Cord at their store if you want to pick one up.
Also, a bunch of librarians asked me to come and speak at their schools/libraries. I'm really looking forward to doing that I have so much excitement for books and reading and love talking with people about it, especially kids. More on that in the next post. If anyone wants me to come and speak at their school or library, just let me know and we'll set up a date. I come for free and give out posters and bookmarks to the kids. I share the same vision as Ruth, we need to get more kids reading again and I'll do what I can to help.
Reading opens the mind like nothing else. I could go on and on about why it's great, but I think my favorite reason is that you get to be friends with the coolest people. Frodo and Sam are personal friends of mine and will always be close to my heart. I just love Hobbits.
Best wishes to all of you out there! And happy reading!
Paul Genesse, Author and Editor
Author of The Golden Cord
Book One of the Iron Dragons Series
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