Author Alexander McCall Smith was in town this past week as part of our local LitFest activities. I have actually only read one of this novels (hey, at least I've read one!) but had heard great reviews of his talks so decided to attend.
Before Smith came on stage we were treated to the drumming of a local African group. They were joined for part of the performance by a bagpipper. Imagine the combination of African drums and Scottish bagpipes. Insanely good!
Energy spiked, out walked Smith and a riotous good time was underway. Smith was thoroughly engaging and funny. I am still trying to comprehend that he writes a 1,000 words per hour. It boggles my mind 'cause I can only achieve that number if I write gibberish for the hour!
The only slight downer to the evening was the interviewer. This is the second time I've attended a literary event where an author was interviewed by another author, and both times have been let downs. Not a fan at all of this style (though maybe it is because I do not like the authors doing the interviewing?). Smith has a very natural story-telling capability and the interviewer kept trying to bring it back to what they wanted to ask rather than listening and bouncing off the narrative Smith was weaving. Oh well - I enjoyed the evening nonetheless. :-)
