This coming Saturday evening, all across Washington D.C., Maryland, and Northern Virginia, people are going to have a stark choice to make.
On the one hand, they can curl up at home, their newly purchased or arrived copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in hand, and speed read to find out what happens, who dies, etc. Kleenex at the ready.
Or, they can come out to the famed bookstore Politics and Prose at 6 pm to hear me talk about Storm World, take questions, and sign books afterwards. After a week and a half on the road, I'm taut, trained, disciplined. Ready to rock you like a hurricane.
Only one shall live...
I think we all know who the winner in this contest is going to be.
OR you could advertise that you're going to do a little Harry Potter reading at the end of your talk. That way everyone wins!
C'mon - by 6 pm all of the die-hard HP fans will have had 18 hours to finish Book 7 - anything above the glacial pace of 45 pages/hour and they'll be able to make your talk and ask questions about the implications of wizard war for global warming and hurricane strength!
Darn you! I already have plans! And no, they do not involve Harry Potter. Well, best of luck Chris!
If Harry dies, I'm blaming you.
Poor Chris -- I fear you are truly screwed. :) Were I still in DC, I'd show up in support.
And no, DON'T promise to read Harry Potter at your talk. Then nobody will come! If there's one thing Potter fans hate, it's someone reading aloud from the latest book in public (because not everyone spends the first 18 hours reading it). I saw a woman nearly lynched on an Amtrak train to NYC for doing just that with Book 6. You'd be taking your life in your hands!
So would it kill you to give a talk/signing at Bookmans or Barnes and Noble the next time you're in Flagstaff? :)