Meeting Deborah Harkness

Kiki & Jules Rating of Cuyahoga County Library Q&A:  5 Stars

What a dream to have the opportunity to meet one of our favorite authors, Deborah Harkness. Jules and I recently traveled 4 hours to Cleveland to a Q&A hosted by the Cuyahoga County Library. Each in attendance had the opportunity to have our books signed and questions answered by the author.

 Let me just start off by saying what a wonderful down to earth woman Ms. Harkness is. She spoke openly and friendly to each of us as we watched her sign away. And then politely let us pick her brain with our questions. Not once did she crack a frown. I already knew I liked her for her craft, but now more so as a person. And boy would I love to sit in on one of her classes.

 I could go on and on, but it would take forever. So here is a sum up of what we learned:

 1. Matthew was conceived through Matthew Roydon, real life mysterious member of The School of Night. Harkness said there is so little known of him other than who he was friends with. We don't even know how he died. Zoom forward, we have our Matthew!

 2. Ms. Harkness does not tell which actor she sees as her characters. Since Warner Brothers has purchased the triology she is leaving it up to the pros. She says she would feel bad if she said something then someone else was chosen. It puts the actor chosen in a tight spot. We say kudos for that decision!

 3. She went on to remind us that this is a love story. "a fairy tale for grown-ups" as she put it. The first book is falling in love. That place where it is just the two of you adoring each other. The second book is staying in love. The I will love you even with your past and demons. It is building on not only each other but those around you. It really does take a community.

 4. As a History professor, Harkness lays heavy on conquering the past. She says that we can only move forward after we deal with our past. So it is right for our two lovers to have literally stepped through their past in order to take on the Congregation in the future.

5. The third book is still being written and there is no projected release as of yet. But with all that was fed to us in Shadow of Night I'm sure we will be re-reading it again. For just like Ms. Harkness, Jules and I are habitual "re-offenders" when it comes to our favorite reads.

6.  We must add that Ms. Harkness attributes all her success to Pixie Dust!  Not truly knowing the whereabouts of her good fortune, she turns to the Fairies!!

We so enjoyed our time in Cleveland and would happily drive even farther next time in order to hear her speak again. We highly recommend Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night! Both are such beautiful adventures in life, love, and all things magical!

 Happy Reading
~Kiki

My signed book!

Jules and her signed book!