I went to see Ana Marie Cox (AMC) read at the National Press Club tonight with Mat. For those who don't know, AMC was the original voice behind Wonkette. Her book Dog Days was recently published and the event at NPC was a promotion for it. While she has stopped doing Wonkette full time, she does maintain this blog. Also, in case anybody is interested in more background, I found this Q&A session to be a good read.

The reading at the NPC began sort of strangely. The host introduced AMC and when she got up to speak, she opened things up to questions right off the bat. Of course, nobody had any questions because we were all in the same uncomfortable position: nobody wanted to be the one to break the odd tension in the air that always exists during the first few minutes of any presentation. Nobody, it seems, including the guest of honor herself. I definitely sympathized: the first few minutes of a presentation are always the hardest. Everybody is sort of getting acclimated to the 'feel' of the room and it's filled with a weird vibe. But it definitely added to the strangeness for her to open with a call for questions, but now I know why she did it: AMC is at her best when fielding questions. That became obvious later in the evening, after she read from her book and people finally got up the nerve to speak. AMC's casual, witty personality really comes out when she has the crowd to play off of.

But she was very different when she was reading from her book. She was downright timid and shy, which was sort of charming, actually. In a lot of ways, AMC is a delightful contradiction. You expect to find her 'Wonkette' persona - this sort of self-confident 'blogger diva,' who is sharp-tongued, clever, and witty. But instead, you find this sort of vulnerable, very human person who becomes visibly nervous when reading from her book. It was sort of refreshing to see that kind of honesty.

Anyway, I definitely felt inspired by her, which surprised me a little. I think for a long time I sort of just pegged her as a 'gossip columnist,' without much depth, which wasn't really fair. She has good insight and perspective on a lot of issues, from writing to politics, and I like that she's so down to earth. And I think it's really cool that she's made a successful segue in her career to 'novelist.' (There need to be more 'blogger-turn-novelists' out there.) She talked about how hard it was to write the book and how she virtually had to 'hold a gun to her head' to do it every day. I could definitely relate to this. It's hard stuff, writing novels. And it doesn't seem to get easier the more you do it, or the more you get published. Of the authors I've heard speak, even the ones who have published numerous books, most say the same thing. Frankly, I'm suspicious of the ones who pretend it's easy. What are they hiding, anyway?

I feel a little bad that I didn't show my support by purchasing a book. Sorry, AMC, But I usually prefer to read paperbacks because they're so much easier to hold and carry around with me. (And okay, they're cheaper.) I promise I'll buy the paperback!

Oh, and I wish I had been less shy myself and told her that I enjoyed watching the SOTU with her commentary as a backdrop. Catherine was out of town that night, and it's no fun watching something like that alone.

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