Whimsy and Wonder: A Fun Time Was Had By All
First event for readers a big success!
Stan Guthrie
5/24/20262 min read
My first author event, "Whimsy & Wonder: Exploring Tom and the Dragon," was a big success. A very curious and engaged group of kids, their parents, young adults, and seniors gathered at New Covenant Church in Naperville yesterday to hear how the book was created and how fantasy literature fortifies and changes us.
I told the group that C.S. Lewis and I have something in common. The great author and Christian apologist finished The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe after a hiatus of many years, just as I did with Tom and the Dragon. Lewis started writing his book for his goddaughter, Lucy Barfield, when she was a child. Then life got in the way and he had to set it aside. The same thing happened with my story for my older son, Peter.
When Lewis finally took up the writing again and finished, Lucy was much older and had moved on to other things. Would she still be interested in a children's tale?
In the dedication to Lucy, Lewis wrote that fairy tales are worth reading, whatever one's age. While clothed in fantasy, these stories give us a view of the world, and ourselves, that we cannot get any other way. “One day," he said, "you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” May this be true of all of us.
The "Whimsy and Wonder" event was marked by great questions (one child asked if Mugwump Cobblenog would appear in the prequel—I'm thinking about it; another wanted info on the Unseen Hand).
Another highlight was the unveiling of the map of Vandar (produced by Prince Eric with an assist by the lovely Christine). We had several people asking for the image or taking pictures. The map, reproduced in miniature above, is stunning. She finished and framed it on Friday afternoon. Let us know what you think!
It really was a wonderful time, worth all the work! Thank you to all who helped, who attended, who asked questions, and who bought books.
Special adoring thanks go to Christine, who created or bought everything we needed, set up and took down, made the gorgeous map, and who seemingly never gets tired of supporting me in these endeavors!