PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS WAS RESCHEDULED FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 9! Hello friends, the Cecil County Public Library in Maryland asked me to host its first After Hours at the Library event, to celebrate the Winter Reading program. They also sent me a few interview questions, which appeared in the local paper. You can’t read the website article if you’re not a subscriber, but I wanted to make the Q&A available here in hopes that it may spark some interest in attending the After Hours event!

 Author David Healey to Host After Hours Event

by Allie Charles

Why do you read?

C.S. Lewis said it best, “We read to know we are not alone.”

What’s your preferred reading format–audiobook, print, digital?

I love my Kindle. I have around 300 books on my Kindle right now. I can carry all those books in my back pocket.

I tend to jump between different books so I have whatever I want right on the device. I can also switch back and forth between my Kindle and my iPhone, and it syncs to whatever page I’m on.

There are a lot of classics available as ebooks for free or at very minimal cost. These can be a pleasant surprise. Grant’s Memoirs was one such discovery, and so was Cape Cod by Henry David Thoreau. Grant was a fine writer and his account of the Mexican War campaign was intriguing. Thoreau is revered as this serious writer, thinking deep thoughts off in his cabin at Walden Pond, but the Cape Cod book is more of a travelogue. Thoreau is snarky and funny in a way that reminds me of Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods. Another free ebook, if you have an interest in local history, is George Alfred Townsend’s Chesapeake Tales.

What are you currently reading?

I am lucky because I work at home and have more control over how my day is structured. Something that I’ve gotten into the habit of doing is reading nonfiction when I get up in the morning. It primes the pump. I keep Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art within reach, along with Tribe of Mentors by Timothy Ferriss, Jack Canfield’s The Success Principles, Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth, and the Robert Hass anthology, Poet’s Choice. Then, it’s time to work!

During lunch I read fiction. Currently I’m on Valley Forge by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen, re-reading The Blue Max by our own Jack D. Hunter, Wicked Deeds (set in Baltimore and featuring lots of Poe history) by Heather Graham, one of the Pendergast books by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, and Written Off by Sheila Lowe. Her book is the newest of a suspense series featuring a handwriting expert. It was really good, and Sheila, who is actually one of the world’s leading handwriting experts, ended up analyzing some of my handwriting for me, which was rather revealing. I recently finished up An Engineered Justice for an interview I did with William L. Myers Jr., who is one of the top 10 bestselling authors on Amazon.com. Set in Philadelphia around an Amtrak crash, it’s quite a legal thriller.

What’s an upcoming release you can’t wait to read?

Anything by John Sandford or Lincoln Child or Paul Doiron. Locally, I am looking forward to a new naval history of Delaware Bay by Ken Wiggins. Ken is on the library board and is also quite an accomplished writer and historian.

Why should people come to the Library After Hours event?

I think most of us have been to events in New York and other cities that are similar, where a museum or historic property will open its doors on a Friday evening after hours. Sure, you could visit during regular hours, but this is a cultural version of adult swim. Our county library is one of the first in Maryland to offer something like this, so that’s rather special.

Reading is a solitary activity, but talking about books and getting excited about what we want to read next can be more social. There will be snacks, conversation, a chance to roam the stacks after hours, and prizes. Did I mention that it’s free?