So last night I was really excited (turns out for good reason as it was entirely brilliant) to go and see Justin Cronin speak and answer questions on the finale to The Passage trilogy – The City of Mirrors. Along with my fellow uber fan (who also happens to be my daughter) Mel and a couple of friends, we all had a great time – Turns out Justin Cronin is a bit of a star, a fascinating and wittily funny guy who also just happens to be a hugely talented writer. If you want to see what I thought of the finale and indeed of the trilogy you can see me attempting to put that into words HERE.
So I’m not going to blather on I’m just going to put up some pictures and give some highlights…
Mr Cronin started with an atmospheric and haunting reading from the novel then he opened it up to audience questions which came thick and fast – it was all very inclusive and took on an intimate feel – more of a chat than anything else. Some fascinating facts emerged. Plus there was a lot of laughter. And at the end he signed what must have felt to him like a million copies of various versions of the trilogy and took the time to have pictures taken and have a little chat to everyone that queued. Considering he had just done an hour of talking that was pretty amazing.
Reading from “The City of Mirrors”
Some random titbits.:
The novels are heading for television (I blanked the next 10 questions in my excitement)
On writing tips we were told “You must put some dirt on the heroes and some sun on the villains”
Answering Questions
Zombies apparently are always dressed for work (yep)
His daughter was concerned that his books might be “boring” and told him to write a book about a “little girl who saves the world” – and hey look what happened!
Mr Cronin is apparently very domesticated and definitely not a serial killer (phew) but just sits down and writes about terrible things.
Fully engaged with the audience
There was so much more but you kind of had to be there – one thing for sure, it was a fantastic event, Justin Cronin is hugely likeable and very grateful to his readers which came across in his absolute willingness to engage and entertain. I may be a little in love (again. Ok I’m fickle)
It was a packed house
I should say a huge thanks to Orion, Waterstones Piccadilly and of COURSE the man of the moment Justin Cronin for such a great evening. And for bringing us The Passage Trilogy – a truly remarkable writing achievement. Some moments will stay with you…
Special thanks to Angela who has accepted my random shrieky emails about these novels with good grace and a metaphorical pat on the head. She is a star.
And there we were….
Here are my companions for the evening ready to get their books signed.
Here is Orion’s Angela keeping an eye on proceedings and doing a stellar job! (Also taking what must have felt to her like a million pictures on behalf of attendee’s)
Then the moment (Sorry Kelly I know you were pointing at me NOT to take your picture but I ignored you) that the guys got their books signed.
Then there was a real moment for me (one of those I’ll never forget)
Then sadly it was home time. But we had a fantastic evening and whatever Mr Cronin has up his sleeve for us readers next you can bet that I’ll be first in the queue!
If you have not read the trilogy yet then take a hop skip over to HERE and rectify that if you can. You really shouldn’t miss the epics. And trust me this one is Epic. With a capital E.
Happy Reading!
