For those who've followed my year, it's obvious it's been awesome. Ten award nominations, six wins for SOJOURN. My career is trending upward, as the financial analysts would say. But there is one thing that I've been anticipating beyond almost everything.
Picture this: The opportunity to address an audience in the Duke of Wellington Pub in Whitechapel. Beer at my elbow. The majority of the audience are friends and comrades, fellow Ripperologists. A genuine Victorian pub!
I'm giving a talk on Ripper fiction. 90% of me is wired about this. The other portion is scared out of my mind. What was I thinking? Most of these folks are one, two or more decades into Ripper research. They know WAY more than I can ever learn. Still, I know fiction and what motivates an author to use a compelling character to drive their story. And let's face it, Jack is the ultimate compelling character.
So on Saturday, Oct. 6th I'll be sipping a beer, spinning out my presentation to a group of wonderful folks in an old pub in London. If you're in the area, drop in (Duke of Wellington Pub, Toynbee Street, 7:45 p.m) If not, wish me luck!
Slainte!
2 comments:
Here it is, 7:46p CDT on the 6th, and it's early on the 7th in London. Too late to wish you luck, unless you could loan me one of Jacynda's watches. I hope everything went well, as I'm sure it did. Is Whitechapel now a predominantly-Muslim area, or is it still Cockney English?
It went very well. Thanks for the kind thoughts. Whitechapel is now predominantly Muslim with immigrants from Bangladesh and Pakistan. It's always been a "gateway" to the rest of Britain, serving that role in the 19th century for the Russian Jews escaping the Czar's pogroms. You can find excellent Balti there and we dined at just such a place at the corner of Brick Lane & Whitechapel High Street.
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