My Fun-Filled SOKY Book Fest Weekend!

On By Teri PolenIn Monday Share

I mentioned last Monday that SOKY Bookfest on March 25th and 26th would be one of my first author events in over two years – and it was a blast! Friday was Children’s Day and over 900 attended – that’s not a typo. Over 900! It was wonderful to speak to so many kids about books. Of course some of them were just happy not to be in a classroom, but others were die-hard booklovers. My heart did a happy dance at seeing so many kids with books in their hands.

If you’re a regular here, you know of my love of Legos. The jaw-dropping display of DC superheroes nearly had me shouting with glee! The figures stood about a foot tall and were incredibly detailed. Maybe a challenge for me to think about in the future.

I also enjoyed meeting some other authors (Helene Dunbar and Heather Henson below), something I look forward to with book events. You’ll also notice my pic with the headliner author – actor/director/author/travel writer Andrew McCarthy! Some of you will remember him from the movies St. Elmo’s Fire, Weekend at Bernie’s, and Pretty In Pink. He gave a humorous speech, answered every question, and spent time speaking to everyone in his signing line. Such a nice guy.

After two solid days of nonstop smiling, near constant conversation, and standing most of that time (combined with a total of six hours sleep over two nights) I crashed Saturday evening. My only regret is that I have to wait another year to go back.

48 thoughts on “My Fun-Filled SOKY Book Fest Weekend!”

  3. Oh, it sounds amazing, Teri. What a fantastic time you must have had, and what a turnout! And I remember Andrew McCarthy well. I always enjoyed his movies. How great you got to chat with him and others. Now, you just need to rest up. You must have been operating on adrenaline.

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    1. Adrenaline and Diet Coke, Mae, lol. I also enjoyed McCarthy’s movies, so it was a real treat for me to meet him. Bought his newest book, Brat (about the Brat Pack, of course). The number of authors were about half the usual due to Covid, but that didn’t keep the readers away.

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    1. Everyone was thrilled to be back, Darlene. The 2021 Book Fest was cancelled at the last minute because of Covid, so this was the first since 2019. And it was wonderful to meet McCarthy – he took time to talk to everyone and seemed happy to be there.

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  7. I absolutely ADORE Andrew McCarthy. I loved him when I was a kid and the Brat Pack was all the rage, but his recent directorial work is truly wonderful. I’m really a fan of Condor (on Epix, I think?), for which he was a producer and directed some episodes.

    So glad you had a great time, Teri. Thanks for sharing your experience and pics!

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    1. I was so excited when McCarthy was named the headliner, Tessa – such a fan of his movies. I do the same with Legos! It’s a total stress reliever for me – gets my entire focus on that instead of a thousand other things. I even got my niece interested in Legos when she turned five, and she’s also partial to Disney.

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      1. My oldest daughter just took part of her tax refund and bought a $200 Lego set of a tv with a movable Disney cartoon on it and me,being the mom I am, had the immediate response of “That much! I just spent only a bit more than that and got a real tv that you don’t have to crank to make the pictures move.” 🤣. It always amazes me how expensive those sets are.

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    1. And it’s only ten minutes from my house, Robbie – perfect! These days it’s about a 50/50 chance I’ll sleep at night, and I used to be such a sound sleeper. Just another one of the joys of getting older I guess, lol.

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