By Chanda Temple
Ninety-five minutes.
That’s about how long I stood in line today to meet New York Times Best-Selling author Kennedy Ryan and have her sign my book, “Before I Let Go.”
And during that time, something struck me. I stood in a line full of mostly women. They were happily chatting and holding tight to their own best-selling books by Kennedy. Their ages were wide-ranging and so were the places from where the attendees came.
Greenville. Atlanta. Huntsville. And more!
They joined me in standing 95 minutes and some even longer just to say, “Hey!!” to Kennedy and snap a photo with her. As they shifted their weight from side to side, their faces never grew weary. Instead, their faces filled with anticipation.
“My life has been changed!” one woman exclaimed as she exited the room and held one of Kennedy’s books like it was her first born.
Ninety-five minutes.
As my section inched closer and closer for our own personal close-up with Kennedy, I asked one of the women what brought her out to the Behind The Ink event at the Harbert Center. The 42-old woman said Kennedy’s books were the first romance novels she had ever really read and she liked what she saw on the page.
“I like her writing,” the woman said. “Her characters stay with you. You think about them even when you are not reading about them.”
Her comments made me think of how Kennedy works to pull in readers with more than words but also a purpose, focusing on issues in present day and wanting to stretch the character from the margins of the page to its center. Earlier that morning, women were standing along the wall and even sitting on the floor in the largest room of the Harbert Center just to hear Kennedy drop inspiring nuggets about her writing journey.
She’s made history. She’s secured a TV deal. And she decided to make Birmingham the second-to-last-stop on her book tour for the rest of the year!! Yay, us!
But yet in all the waiting and shifting from foot to foot in the packed room, I felt joy. I was happy to see so many people excited to meet an author and share stories about their favorite characters. Happy to see other authors and vendors selling their wares in the walkways of the Harbert Center. And happy to see Author K. Reshay, the organizer of the event, look out into the crowd, feeling assured she was doing a good thing.
As I left, I stopped to ask Reshay, who is also the founder of Me Time Book Club , about how many were in attendance today . She scanned her info and said over 2,000 had registered, and she invited Kennedy because so many people said last year that is the author they’d like to see this year.
Reshay said she’s taking recommendations again for next year’s event, adding that she hopes this can continue.
Based on the crowd and their reaction, I’m sure this event will because in the grand scheme of things, waiting ninety-five minutes was worth it just to take a break from all the noise happening around us right now.
Ninety-five minutes
It’s amazing how a book can bring everyone together.
Chanda Temple is an award-winning writer living in Birmingham, Ala. She blogs at http://www.chandatemplewrites.com. If you have a food story idea, email her at chandatemple@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram at @chandatemple.
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