As much as I enjoy reading passages of my books to people, I also enjoy listening to other authors bring their stories to life at public presentations. So I made a point of attending my friend Charles O’Donnell’s reading at the Messiah Lutheran Church in Reynoldsburg this past Sunday. His was the first of several “evening author talks” sponsored by the Reynoldsburg Arts Forum.

A wrong turn caused me to arrive about 10 minutes late, but I still heard most of his readings, which came from his two most-recent novels — Shredded and Shade. I anticipate doing reviews on these books, so I don’t want to say too much about them now. But no great harm will be done by revealing that both are set in a dystopian (but not too distant) future, which is dominated by something called the Worldstream.  Think of the Worldstream as the next step — or maybe several steps — beyond today’s Internet. It sees and records every purchase, every interaction, every transaction that involves one or more individuals. Escaping the Worldstream is possible, if one is willing to accept the accompanying dangers and sacrifices. It’s even possible for people to erase all traces of themselves from the Worldstream. But that’s an even riskier task.

As a presenter, Charles is better than average. He reads slow enough to make his words understandable, while changing his volume and inflection to add feeling and tension at appropriate moments. He also uses body language effectively. In particular, he sometimes takes a deliberate step forward to drive home a point. I do have one recommendation to offer Charles: Rather than read passages directly from his books, he would do better to transfer the passages to separate pages and put the words into large print. That would enable him to make eye contact with his listeners more often without losing his place in the reading.

A question-and-answer session followed the readings, as well as a discussion of the key characters Charles has inserted into his novels. His audience, which numbered about 12, included his devoted wife Helen and several members of the writing groups to which he belongs. As I munched on cookies after the program, I felt myself thinking that Charles deserved a bigger audience. I felt the same way about the presenters (myself included) at the Columbus Arts Festival, most of whom gave their readings to fewer than 15 listeners. Musicians always seem to draw bigger crowds even when their music isn’t that good. Maybe I’m just jealous.