Twin Cities Book Festival Opening Night 2015

Twin Cities Book Festival Opening Night 2015

Every year I eagerly anticipate the Twin Cities Book Festival and this year is no exception.  I decided to attend the opening night festivities on Friday night, Oct 16th, 2015 and celebrate Rain Taxi's 20th year.  So I bought a ticket, got semi-dressed up or as dressed up as you can be when your going to be in a building with no heat and you need to stay warm, and went all by myself to the fairgrounds.  I have to say I was a little nervous attending the event by myself but I met some other ladies who also went solo (Gail and Lacey) and had a blast.

The food was great, the wine was great and the company was awesome.  I met some new authors and got to talk with one of my favorite authors Faith Sullivan (she wrote The Cape Ann).  Craig Thompson was there (although I didn't get to talk to him) and many others.

The author of the evening was Laila Lalami.  Laila's newest book, The Moor's Account was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.  She talked in length about why she wrote the novel about the first black explorer of America, Mustafa al-Zamori, called Estebanico, who was a slave of a Spanish conquistador.  The story she told was absolutely fascinating.
I cannot wait to read The Moor's Account. Oh how I love historical fiction.  I thought she would talk for about 30 minutes and then after Laila signed my book and as I was leaving the building I noticed how late it was.  She talked for over an hour to the rapt audience.

I had an awesome Opening Night at the Best Book Festival in town.  Thanks Rain Taxi for 20 great years.  Keep up the good work!