Chocolate Party

Atlanta Library’s chocolate party was a real candy of a get-together last Thursday.

The purpose of the gathering was not really to sample chocolate. The store-bought bars and packages of candy were really just for appearance.

The real purpose of the two-hour event was to meet authors and others who, like one’s self, were interested in books, how they get printed and how they get sold.

One thing for certain is that at book signings and publishing parties, the patron doesn’t mind being shoulder-to-shoulder with the writer. One usually never gets this chance.

Authors are rare individuals, truly hidden between pages. So, at the party, the citizen simply bumps up to the author and asks questions.

Atlanta’s library was filled with readers and writers this day 5 p.m. on a Thursday. Some 10 tables were placed on three different floors of the building and many of these were just arms-length apart from each other.

Of course, there were opportunities to support the library with sales and membership.

But the best part is that on this day, at this time, the local library was filled with real live characters.

Not figures on the page of a book or in one’s imagination,

were ready to talk.

“Who knows, I might write a book myself ... one of these days,” the library patron might be thinking.