Doctor Who and My First Book Signing

A year ago, my lovely sister-in-law (follow her wonderful blog Freckles and Fireflies here*) Erin told me about an interesting post on her Facebook wall: someone was looking for Christian writers who also happened to love Doctor Who. Doctor Who is, of course, the amazing and quirky BBC sci-fi show that has been going strong for over 50 years (!). Since I fit into this very specific category, Erin passed on some contact info, and I wrote an essay.

And then, I basically forgot about it until the beginning of this year, when I got an email announcing the book launch party was scheduled for March 26th,** in Lancaster, PA.

The FB event poster.

Well, I live in West Michigan, which puts Lancaster at about 10 hours away. I thought, "Maybe next time," but then things worked out, I rented a car, and managed to make my very first book signing, as an author! This is a big milestone (after all, it's what I'd like to do for the rest of my life!), and I had a blast on my whirlwind drive to the east. My only regret was that I didn't have more time to sightsee or spend with the lovely people I met (or to take a detour down to Baltimore and go exploring!).

My drive from Ann Arbor (where I stopped for an ABA meeting) was pretty uneventful, even dull, but I had forgotten how lovely southeast Pennsylvania was. The mountains aren't huge here, but they are blue and hazy, and get The Hobbit's "Misty Mountains" song adequately stuck in your head.***

Maybe it's just me, but I'll take any bit of the mountains I can get

Anyhow, I also got to drive through tunnels. WHEEEEEEEE! (I honestly love them). After the fun of the tunnels, I had to stop and take a pretty picture of the backdrop:

It's hard to capture the size/scale from a parking lot, but what can you do. It's still pretty though.

So, anyway, after miles of driving (and lots of BBC news), I finally pulled into a drizzly Lancaster. I met my host Tom Becker (check out his cool ministry here), and then made myself at home.
I spent the next day exploring Lancaster with my friend Claire and her precious son, John. I sort of forgot (for real) that my phone has a camera until too late. As it was, I only got a few pics of historic, downtown Lancaster before it was time to go to the book signing. Here are few of the cool pictures I did take:

The Shippen House

That door though . . .

After the wandering, we ate a fabulous dinner and walked to the signing.The book signing was at an amazing old bank turned performance venue, the Lancaster Trust

Image taken from DiscoverLancaster.com

The talk was by Gregory Thornbury, president of Kings College in New York (and one of the book editors), and it was fantastic! From the fifth commandment to the Doctor's genesis, Mr. Thornbury was enthusiastic, varied, and a great speaker. He might have gotten me into Doctor Who if I wasn't already.

After the talk was the most exciting part: the book signing! At the store where I work, I've handled my fair share of these, from setting up to selling an author's books, but this was my first time on the other side of the table. It felt amazing, and I can't wait to do it again. Though the book has fourteen essays, there were only a handful of us in attendance, but it was still great. That's me in the center with the book (yellow leggings!).

The book is full of fascinating essays on everything from Prayer to Temptation to the Sanctity of Life (mine!), explored through Doctor Who. It's called Bigger on the Inside: Christianity and Doctor Who, and it's published through Square Halo books. You can read more about it here. You can also check out their cool blog Christianity and Doctor Who.

I am now an officially published author. How is that for a weekend?

Footnotes:

*Erin is a funny, talented writer. Follow her.

**March 26th, 2015 was a significant date because (drumroll) it was 10 years ago that day that the 9th Doctor and the reboot catapulted the show into the 21st century.

***I think that song is one thing book people, movie people, and people who had their dad sing it to them in a made-up tune all agreed on. Every version I've heard sounds a lot like this.