Patty Briggs Signing

I was ecstatic when I found out that Patty was coming to Cambridge MA for a book signing. I've met Patty before, on several occasions but the last time I saw her was a year and a half ago. Today was the perfect day for me to go too as it's my short day at school, so I didn't have to take any time off to attend.

It was, to me anyway, a small turnout, maybe 20-25 people. Patty started by reading the prologue from "Fair Game", then spent about 30 minutes answering questions. Some highlights:

• There's not a definite date, but she's working on an anthology of short stories set in Mercy's world. It'll be a mix of previously published stories (Star of David; Seeing Eye; In Red, With Pearls, etc) and new stories. Possible new stories include one from Bran's perspective, one with Sam, and one with the teen werewolf Kara. Patty is hoping that it will be out before the next Mercy book in March 2013 but there's nothing set in stone yet.
• Someone asked if there will be a book with both Anna and Mercy. The answer was no, but maybe a short story. 
• Someone else asked if Patty will ever return to any of her traditional fantasy series. The answer - yes. No definite date; Patty said there will be a third Hurog book, another Hob book, and another Raven book, but for now she's content to keep writing urban fantasy. When she needs a break, she'll switch over the traditional fantasy, and then go back to the urban fantasy. 
• Fair Game is the last definite Alpha & Omega book that she's contracted for BUT she's under contract for one more book set in that world so it could be an A&O book, a Mercy book, or maybe one using a secondary character from one or both series. It won't, however, be Bran. Patty would prefer to keep him mysterious. :)

As I was getting my pic taken with Patty, I had a pleasant surprise - author PJ Schnyder was also in the audience. She took some pix too but I don't have those yet. The person waiting in line behind me took this one.

 You'll see that Patty has a large selection of pens. Some she brought with her, some the Harvard Co-op (they sponsored the signing) provided. Patty likes to give people the option of what color pen to get their books signed with. I chose purple. :)

It was great to see Patty again, I passed on messages to her from people on her board, and I had a brief chat with her before she had to leave. It was also nice seeing PJ. I had the chance to meet her last year when she was in Boston for her day job. I had a fun evening, and it was well worth the trip into Boston.

Tomorrow night I'm headed to Belmont, just outside of Boston, for a reading and signing with YA author Mike Mullin. We chat on Twitter, and I'm really looking forward to meeting him in person. I'll post about that too.