I recently posted some pictures from my time at the Dublin Irish Festival over on my blog Celtic Voices. Click here to see them.
I promised a young reader there that next year I would have the sequel to Brigid of Ireland. (So I have to do it now!) She said, “I will buy it for $10 or whatever it costs!”
Melted my heart!
Meeting Readers
It’s one of my favorite things about these festivals. I’ve discovered that a lot of young girls enjoy Brigid of Ireland, but even though I told a 30’s-ish young man this, thinking he wanted it for his daughter, he bought it for himself. (Oops!)
I talked to people from Ireland who wandered over to my table. Some just wanted to tell ME a story, and I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed that. The craic is well worth coming for! Other people wanted to know a bit about the writing process. The stage manager at the tent where I spoke wanted to know what I thought about ebooks. Other people had questions about a series how my books reflected the actual immigrants who came through Ellis Island. Whether or not these people bought books, I had a great time just meeting them.
Meeting Other Authors
You can’t spend an entire weekend in a tent with other authors without getting to know them a bit. Some I had met before, and others were new friends. I heard a little of their publishing tales, and also their thoughts on Celtic spirituality, which was fascinating.
A highlight this year was sitting next to Sean McCabe, who not only is a novelist and poet, but also a musician, born in Ireland and living in Sweden. He even played some music for us right there in our tent when traffic was slow on Sunday afternoon. Here is a link to one of his albums on iTunes. Do yourself a favor and listen to a preview.
Have you ever been to an Irish festival?
Let me know in the comments![bctt tweet=”What’s the best part about an Irish festival?”]
