My friend from Book Club invited me to go with her to Ted Dekker’s Outlaw Tour, his first book tour in 15 years. If you are unfamiliar with Ted Dekker, here is a snippet from his website:
Ted Dekker (born October 24, 1962) is a New York Times best-selling author of more than twenty novels. He is best known for stories which could be broadly described as suspense thrillers with major twists and unforgettable characters, though he has also made a name for himself among fantasy fans.
Dekker was born to missionaries who lived among the headhunter tribes of Indonesia. Because his parents’ work often included extended periods of time away from their children, Dekker describes his early life in a culture to which he was a stranger as both fascinating and lonely. It is this unique upbringing that forced him to rely on his own imagination to create a world in which he belonged.
It was unlike any signing event I’d ever been to. For one, the room was packed–and we weren’t at a bookstore with limited space. It started out a bit like a rock concert, some loud music, and a video based on this book trailer:
I love the line: “Who said your light was little?”
Ted came out and spoke for, I don’t know, maybe an hour or so? I wasn’t looking at my watch. He told some great stories of growing up and playing a chicken-type game with his brother and a bow and arrow. (It ended badly for his brother who still bears a scar!) And a lovely, romantic story about how he met his wife. His main message was based on the themes in his new book–about who we really are, not just the “costume” we put on; about fear of God vs. fear of what others do or think.
We were the last stop of the tour and the signing line went out the door and into the cold. (This was November and it wasn’t POLAR VORTEX cold, but it was chilly.) I was amazed when we got to the front that Ted was in bare feet and standing in front of yet another open door. But, I guess all the hugging was keeping him warm, because Ted Dekker is a hugger. Not a casual, pat on the shoulder kind of hugger, but a long-lost-cousin bear hugger. I didn’t bring my camera but my friend has an iphone so the handler who was on tour automatically took pictures of me after she had gotten her book signed and collected her bear hug. Here is me getting my hug and the posed picture (above.)
