Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Miami Book Festival

On Saturday and Sunday, I was glued to the television watching C-Span 2 watching the 25th annual Miami Book Festival, an event that I love watching. Individual interviews of writers and panels of writers discussing their books fill the eight hours of daily coverage on Saturday and Sunday shown on C-Span 2. It's inspiring for writers and it sparks the interest of anyone who loves to read.

For me, the best part of the Miami Book Festival each year is Dave Barry. No one comes close for me. He's funny, easy-going, and I love watching him. He always talks about the Rock Bottom Remainders, the band that several best-selling, gifted writers play in at these book festivals. Speaking after Dave Barry was Frank McCourt who was also planning on playing with the Remainders. Why doesn't C-Span2 broadcast the Rock Bottom Remainders? Why? It would be wonderful to see Stephen King, Amy Tan, Dave Barry, Mitch Album, Barbara Kingsolver, and others playing together and having fun.

C-Span 2 on weekends covers interviews and writing events of non-fiction writers but they don't cover fiction. This is a serious lack in television that needs to be filled by starting a Writers Network, a channel with 24 hour programming filled with interviews of writers, workshops for and by writers, and maybe a reality show thrown in with challenges for writers.

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