The following is a personal account by guest blogger Bonita Bradway (at right, with Ryan A. Conklin).On Thursday April 8th, I attended the book signing for Ryan Conklin’s An Angel From Hell, at Borders in Annapolis, Maryland. I was not too sure what to expect, but I was not disappointed. Ryan did a great job of explaining how the book came to be, which I think is very important for the integrity of the book. Ryan also filled us in on what has happened since his first deployment, including being cast for The Real World Brooklyn and his second deployment. Ryan spoke in a very natural, honest manner and made it feel that he was talking with a group of friends.
After he discussed the book, he offered up the opportunity for questions, questions about the book, The Real World, or even trivia questions. That’s right, if you’ve seen the Real World, you know that Ryan is a funny, yet somewhat shy guy – and that is exactly how he is in reality too. When I asked him to sign my book, he was very personable and it is apparent that he does not take himself too seriously. He was very much open to talking with everyone in attendance and taking photographs – he was even happy to “retake” my photograph, since I forgot to turn the flash on for my first.
Overall, the book signing was a great experience and made me even more excited to read the book – it is obvious that the book is a very personal account of Ryan’s time serving his country; and as he admitted, it includes experiences that he could not bring himself to speak to his family and friends about. I would recommend that anyone who has followed Ryan since he appeared on The Real World, anyone who has a friend or family member serving abroad, or anyone who is at all interested in what it is truly like over in Iraq should not only pick up the book, but definitely attend a book signing. Getting a true sense of what Ryan is like will only add to your reading experience.
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