Launching ‘The Trivia Man’

What a great time we had yesterday launching ‘The Trivia Man’ at Hurstville City Library. Thank you to everyone who attended, and special thanks to those who sent or brought flowers. A big thank you to the lovely Sue, head of adult collections at the library, and events coordinator Julieanne for their hospitality and all the work that went into organising things, including the yummy morning tea. I’m also grateful to the delightful Janet Grundy, who has supplied and sold books so graciously at all three of my Hurstville events.

On the eve of the Queen’s Birthday long weekend and amid an outbreak of flu that has hit so many people, it was wonderful to see such a big crowd. I was thrilled to catch up with singer, songwriter and life coach, Lindsay Drummond, whom I first met when she performed a song she had written about Rose Scott at the eponymous Women Writers’ Festival last year. Lindsay came all the way from the Southern Highlands and here’s a quirky coincidence for you - she’s a much-in-demand trivia host in the Goulburn area.  It was also great to catch up with some colleagues from Sydney Tech High where I taught many years ago. And some of my lovely painting friends were present too (below).

In my talk I discussed the inspirations for ‘The Trivia Man’, my dalliance with Kevin Dwyer which turned into a long-term relationship (four and a half years and counting) and my own connection with trivia and quizzes. I also threw in some trivia questions, all deftly answered by the audience. They, in turn, posed some interesting questions of me – What is it about this fascination our society seems to have with trivia?  Is Kevin based on anyone you know? (Yes, me! Or at least, the nerdy quiz kid side of my personality.) Was it cathartic to write the story? And many more.

Read about the rest of my book tour here.

Deborah O’Brien

6 June 2015