Survived my First Author Reading

I survived!

I spoke slowly and clearly. I read from the opening pages of POED to a wacky audience of Poe fans & fanatics.

Wacky? Yes, it was a wild mix of ages and interests. I was on the program with a beat box duo interpreting "Dream within a Dream"; a veteran actor reciting "The Raven" with a raven puppet; a keyboard player with a new Poe-inspired song about bedbugs; a Russian immigrant artist displaying her painting of Poe's house in the Bronx & talking about the translations of Poe in Russian; and a college freshman in the drama program singing his original song based on "The Black Cat" in which the killer blames the cat.

I survived and I will be less nervous next time. So this was a success!