Another Author Event - This One A Brit

Back on January 10, I went to Rakestraw books in Danville to see both Chloe Benjamin and Jessica Shattuck.  And as we were leaving, Michael, the owner, told me to come back on February 13 to see Matt Haig.  Well, we all know what an author/bookstore owner kiss-up I am.  So, what could I do?  I showed up on 2/13 to see Matt.  Michael was right.  Matt was very entertaining.  But, more importantly, he had some very interesting things to say.  Here are a few of his bon mots:

1.  His book, How to Stop Time, was nominated for Most Romantic Novel of the year in 2017.
2.  He started by writing 8 business books in order to pay the rent.
3.  He was 1 of 17 screenwriters for the movie Paddington.
4.  The 1st paragraph he wrote in HtST ended up on page 314!
5.  He's written 14 books, including some for children.
6.  He is character-, not plot-, driven.
7.  And the best ones of all:  Actor Benedict Cumberbatch has purchased the movie rights!  And,
8.  The 1st draft of the movie has already been written, and it was by the same screenwriter who wrote Darkest Hour (Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill) and The Theory of Everything (Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking).  How cool is that?

Here are a few pictures from the event:

  Matt Haig on the left; Michael on the right