Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Smithsonian... Not!

I was supposed to be in Washington DC today, giving a presentation at the Smithsonian for their Historical Fiction Writers' series, focussing on Pride of Carthage and Hannibal. I was chuffed to have been invited and really looking forward to it. Even made up a wee slide show to get a multi-media thing going. Didn't happen, though. Close. Close, but didn't happen.

The reason? Weather. From the start my flight out of Colorado Springs was canceled, and then when I did get on a plane the engines iced up while it was being de-iced. Pilot said this was weird, never happened to him before, but it made for a delay of about an hour and a half, which meant I missed my next flight. I then got booked on another flight out of Denver to Dulles. I got on the plane with the other hopeful passengers, only to told, sorry, we're not flying after all. Now the issue was the storm sweeping across the East Coast... I spent the night in Denver (about sixty miles from home), hoping to get on to a 5am flight the next morning. But, no, that didn't happen either. Dulles and National airports were both closed! So instead I came home. 28 hours away and nothing to show for it. On top of that, my luggage got lost...

Anyway, I'm still smiling. I think the Smithsonian folks want to reschedule for next month, and that's fine by me. I do want to thank the 100+ people that bought tickets for the evening. My travel difficulties aside, I do hope to be able to connect with you all in the near future.
Now, I've got some work to do...

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Mr Durham,
I'm sorry you didn't make it out to DC, because I was really looking forward to your presentation tonight! (As I write this I can hear the icy wind whipping around my house and school has been cancelled for the second day.)
I am halfway through "Pride of Carthage." I've been craving a great novel for some time and yours has really grabbed me...I love it! I've always felt like a good book is like a good friend...It can be lonely without one. So, thank you!
Anyway, I hope you are able to reschedule with the Smithsonian... I would really like to hear about your adventures while researching/writing this book.
Take care,
deborah

6:09 PM  
Blogger David Anthony Durham said...

Deborah,

Kind of you to write. And kind of you to say such nice things about Pride of Carthage. And even kinder that you were planning on coming the Smithsonian event!

I'm sorry to have missed it. Actually, as I'm writing this I realize I should be up in front of people talking this very moment. But it was not be. I'm hoping, though, that if I stay positive the karma will balance out. Next time - maybe March 21st - it'll be a beautiful day with no travel worries and no worries for the folks who are coming out.

That's what I'm hoping for. Hope to see you then.

David.

6:42 PM  

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