A Beautiful Evening in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Isn't this a cool Clock Tower in downtown Portsmouth?

 Where the heck are McFly and Doc?

Clear skies, little to no wind, and temperatures above freezing was the blissful northern weather we experienced for the book signing.  It was a perfect evening.  Portsmouth, New Hampshire is a lovely town with quaint shops and plenty of history.  The town's sidewalks are paved with red brick which made me think of Coronado, CA (A place that I very much loved living before).  When we showed up at River Run Bookstore Stephen King was already there along with Joe Hill, his son.  Just imagine how cool it would be to say "My father is Stephen King." :))) 

We also met the guy whose image was used  by Michael Whelen for Father Callahan in Discordia  in front of RR when we showed up at the storefront window.  He was there to get a book signed too.  We asked him how Betts Bookstore was doing and he said it was doing well.  He was also surprised  that someone recognized him. 

When we got inside I was shocked to hear what a die-hard biker King is.  He said that he rode his Harley from Maine to New Hampshire. Brrrr  That is about 154 miles and about 3 hours in 30 degree weather. Brr Brr 

When it was my turn to get my book signed, I wore a custom-made sweatshirt with my winning entry on the front.  King read that it said Stephen's Empire which got his attention.  In the picture I took you can tell he is trying to make out what it meant.  (Take note of the look of confusion on his face.  Not the look I was hoping to capture but oh well.)  That is when I snapped the picture.  Beforehand, we were advised to turn the flash off of all cameras, which we did but at the same time I was taking my photo someone else snapped a photo with a flash.  I thought the flash came from my camera (but it didn't).  That is when I got all worried that I was going to be reprimanded by one of the on-duty police officers.  At the same time that I was stressing about the flash, he asked what the caption read on the picture. Unfortunatley I didn't answer his question because I was unaware that he asked it.  My family relayed it too me after the fact.   The caption was still very small even after having been blown up a little for the shirt.   I explained that I was one of the winners and that Eddie's of Roland Park was my entry.  He said, "Oh (smiled and extended his hand for me to shake it. OMG)  I smiled and shook his hand but didn't answer his question about the caption. Drat to the person who didn't turn off their flash!!!   My nervousness was apparant after the flash went off. I then told him how much I liked Full Dark, No Stars, and told him, "Thanks."  He smiled and replied by saying, "You're welcome."     

King is a super-nice, congenial person.  He really is great to his fans and also generous with his time even when he is signing 400+ books.     

David Williamson aka Father Callahan



Huh? 




Sorry about the poor quality, this is what it looks like without a d*mn flash!