Books by the Banks, Cincinnati OH

While everyone else in the world was chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool, I spent yesterday at the Books by the Banks Festival in downtown Cincinnati, signing copies of The Bard and the Bible (A Shakespeare Devotional). I was kind of a big deal. Bigger than the 120 other authors in the author pavilion. Some of them weren't even in costume!

Still, everyone managed to keep their cool around me and avoid embarrassing me with long lines and requests to take pictures with me. The self control everyone exhibited was really quite impressive.

The Bard enjoyed meeting (and sharing a table with) Mark Twain, also known as author Mark Dawidziak.

And the Bard shared a moment with Pope Francis, though the pontiff's greeting was a little flat. He was probably jetlagged.

Super Why had a bajillion questions for the Bard, and Will had a few for Super Why too. Like "Who Wore It Better?"

The biggest celebrity of the day, however, was former Reds batboy, Teddy Kremer, who classed up the joint considerably.

It was a fine time spent with book lovers and "book writers," talking about Shakespeare and Mark Twain and ghost stories and bourbon and vegetable butchers and more. Writers are such interesting people.