If you ask me what my favorite book is, you'll get an endless list instead of a simple answer. But, at the top of that long list, sits the Harry Potter series and The Outsiders. I've had the pleasure of meeting both Tom Felton and Ralph Macchio before at Steel City Con. So what were the odds both had a pub-date of Oct. 18th, 2022 and were in New York City for release day signings?
Let me start off by saying it was a magical, kick-ass day. Sure, there were hiccups (i.e; see me walking 25 minutes to the wrong Barnes and Noble before realizing I needed to make another 20 minute trek within 30 minutes to the right one), but overall, the day was incredible and just plain fun.
Tom Felton is an absolute gem. I knew this from my previous experience meeting him back in 2016, which I think only increased my excitement this time around. This interaction might've been extremely brief (there was a massive line on the streets of NYC to be fair), but it felt genuine. You might be thinking "but how? He's an actor, of course he was putting on a front & besides, it was only 30 seconds!" Well, to that end I'll pull out Emma Watson's quote about Tom from the forward of his new book, Beyond the Wand:
"You know that person in your life who makes you feel seen?...For me, that person is Tom Felton...Which means that if you meet Tom, you meet the real Tom...He doesn't flick a switch...That special ability he has to make me feel seen extends to everybody."
When I thanked him for loving Harry Potter as much as the fans, he was visibly touched. I also love everything about his signature. Besides the fact that it's absolutely gorgeous, two things about it stood out to me.
I'll admit, a piece of me was sad at first when my ticket said Tom wouldn't be personalizing books because the collector in me didn't want it to look identical to the other signed copies available in everyday bookstores. While he (understandably) didn't take the time to personalize them, he did make the copies special by signing them at the top of the page, setting them apart from the ones available in stores.
The second thing I'm still smiling about is the little hug 'x' after his name. In my Half-Blood Prince copy, he signed his name with 2 of them and the words 'lots of love'. So when I got a little 'x' this time around, I just assumed it was part of his standard signature. But, comparing mine with a handful of girls afterwards taught me otherwise - out of all of us, only 2 had an 'x.' It was probably random, or maybe it had to do with my thanking him, but either way, at the end of the day, it feels just a little extra special.
As I mentioned, it really is ironic that Ralph Macchio was doing a signing in the city later that day as well. The Outsiders is, along with Harry Potter, my favorite book of all time. So when Ralph personalized my copy with “stay gold - Ralph Macchio, aka Johnny” in a gold sharpie he brought out especially for me back in 2017, I knew he truly cared about the impact he has on his fans. This time wasn’t any different! Although the line went on for BLOCKS, even longer than Tom's, Ralph took the time to personalize everyone’s copy of his brand-new memoir, Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me.
My interaction with him was also fun! He messed up placing the dust jacket on the book, as you'll see in the screen recording I took, which resulted in our joking about how pretty the naked blue book is and how his publishers definitely spent a fortune to add some shine to the wording on the spine.
All I can say is, if you ever get the chance to meet your favorite actors, jump at the chance – you won't regret it!
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