DARK DAYS, LONG NIGHTS; EOIN COLFER AT EASON DUBLIN

Yesterday evening, Thursday July 22nd, Tara and me had the pleasure of attending an author event featuring Eoin Colfer in Eason Bookshop in O'Connell Street, Dublin.
Eoin Colfer of course, is the author of, amongst other titles, the Artemis Fowl books and this evening took place on the occasion of the release of the 7th title in the series; Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex.
The evening started off at 6.30 by which time the place was absolutely packed with people and we were down to standing room only. But, any sore feet that might have resulted in were soon forgotten because Eoin Colfer turned out to be an entertaining and very funny speaker. Initially the idea had apparently been that he would talk for a while and then do a reading from his new book, but he decided to skip the reading since there were, in his opinion, to many little kids in the audience. I can't speak for anyone else, but I didn't miss the reading. The stories Mr. Colfer entertained us with had me captivated and laughing out loud, and I was not alone.

He told us that this series was born when he decided to mix some elements from a short story he had written with a devilish character based on his younger brother Donal. Many stories about Donal and his antics followed as did stories about Eoin Colfer's own sons. Especially his acting out of his teenage son's stance and lack of words when upset with his father had the audience in stitches. 
After the talk the audience was given the opportunity to ask questions which were all answered and occasionally illustrated with other funny stories. All of this was done in an unrushed fashion with the author going out of his way to make sure that anybody with a question got a chance to ask it.

Finally it was time for the book signing and once again Eoin Colfer took his time with everyone who came up to his table. We decided to just sit for a while and wait for most of the line to disappear and by the time Tara got up to the table with her books and posters more than two hours had passed since the start of the event. But, the author was still in great humour and took his time to sign everyone of the five (or was is six?) books she brought up as well as the two posters she had managed to get her hands on. He also chatted with her about the Dr. Who Sonic Screwdriver she had bought earlier that day and had in her hands when she went up to meet him. I think Tara was more impressed with this then she was with anything else that evening.
 

This was a wonderful evening and my compliments go to Eoin Colfer for being such a generous and funny person and to Eason Bookshop for doing a great job in organizing such an entertaining event.
And just in case this blog wasn't positive enough, let me spell it out for you; If you get the chance to see and hear Eoin Colfer anywhere, go and do so. You won't be disappointed.