A Slew of Wonderful Events

As most of you who read the blog regularly know, I kinda like author events. Oh, alright, alright! I have a bit of an addiction. I admit it. :-)

One of the goals I set for myself was to average one event a month this year - I'm ahead of schedule for this year. Not only do I find them fun and informative, I also find that they add to my reading experience after. On a very rare occasion one has turned me off of an author, but the good experiences far outweigh the bad. I also like to support the authors I read and admire; attending their events is a great way to do that.

Well, June was a busy month for events and I have lots of fun to share with you from those events, starting with Chicago's Printers Row event that was held the first weekend in June.

This was my second year attending Printers Row and I really enjoy the event. Seems to rain at least a little every time, but that's o.k. I was none too happy when they outlawed the taking of pictures during the sessions, but I found a way to get a few pictures anyway.

First, I had the chance to meet Lesley Kagen after her wonderful panel. She is so passionate about writing and that comes through in everything she says. Lesley is one of our xuni authors, which is how I found out about her. Listening to her read from her book resulted in me being very excited to hear she will be reading her own audiobooks. I don't usually get excited about an author reading his/her own audiobooks, but I have a feeling Lesley is going to be the best choice for these!

Later that day, Judy Bobalik and I attended a conversation with Sean Chercover and Marcus Sakey. How much fun! First, I know many of you will be excited to hear that Sean has finished his third book and we'll be hearing more about publication of that soon. But the basis of the story is a revivalist, con-man preacher who begins to spew predictions that are coming true. The root of the idea came to Sean in 1996 when he was having to take numerous pain killers and was also drinking whiskey. - See, you always wondered where authors get their ideas. Now you know!

Marcus also revealed where the seed for THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES came from.  Sean had actually shared a story about Satchel Paige who didn't know his age but was asked at one point by a reporter, so his response was, "How old would ya be if ya didn't know how old ya was?" That question led Marcus to the question, "WHO would ya be if ya didn't know who ya was?"

There was a fun early-release party for Marcus' THE TWO DEATHS OF DANIEL HAYES afterward. I was really excited to be able to celebrate the release of this book with him.

The next day at Printers Row, Judy and I attended a panel with Andrew Gross, Kevin Guilfoile, Keir Graff and Jamie Freveletti.

Andrew talked about his upcoming novel EYES WIDE OPEN. He explained that he typically works around ideas that come from news headlines, but this book deals with two events a bit more personal to him. The first being the death of his nephew from suicide and the other being the time he met Charles Manson when he was 12. The revelation of this meeting elicited quite a startled response from Jamie who was moderating the panel.

The week after Printers Row was just as busy. It started with Craig Johnson's event in Oakmont at Mystery Lovers Bookshop on Tuesday. There was a full house for Craig, which is fitting because he's so entertaining and fun!

Craig spoke about the fact that he does indeed plan story elements well in advance of the actual book he's working on. When he created Virgil in ANOTHER MAN'S MOCCASINS he had intentions of using him with another storyline later (a.k.a. HELL IS EMPTY).

HELL IS EMPTY was challenging for Craig to write in that he was relaying on another book's structure to put his own together, since HELL IS EMPTY ties in allegorically with DANTE'S INFERNO.

Craig also addressed the pilot of LONGMIRE and how much involvement he had in the process. When he saw the auditions for the role of Henry, Lou Diamond Phillips was the only actor who didn't instinctively create contractions out of Henry's speech.

Craig charmed the audience and it was a wonderful evening!

The following night was Michael Koryta's event. Luckily that one was in Westlake, about 20 minutes from my house. And this was an event that was originally scheduled for the CYPRESS HOUSE release but had to be canceled twice because of weather. The weather was cooperative this time around and all went as planned.

Michael shared a few fun tidbits about THE RIDGE, including the fact that his mother use to take Michael and his sister to see lighthouses whenever they traveled. According to Michael, she dragged them to every lighthouse she possibly could. So having the lighthouse in THE RIDGE was a bit of payback to Mom for those excursions.

Michael also gave some advice to anyone visiting a feline rescue like the one in the book. "Don't wear perfume." Micael's publicist wanted to visit the rescue facility that influenced the writing of THE RIDGE, and when she did she wore nice clothes and perfume, which attracted the cats to...well...mark her. Once one cat had left its mark, many more decided they needed to as well. YIKES!

The next book Michael's working on is going back to traditional crime fiction. It may be out as early as 2012 or may be later into 2013.

I had a short break after Michael's event, which gave me time to take my dogs to the vet for their overdue vaccinations and celebrate my mom's birthday and Father's Day. The family was appreciative of that.

This past week brought Karin Slaughter to the Cleveland area. Aside from the nasty woman who sat next me, this was a tremendous event. Karin Slaughter is fun, humorous and energetic. You can see how much she loves what she does. I think that's one of the most amazing things to experience. She takes nothing for granted and is appreciative of every fan and every circumstance that got her to where she is.

This event was held at the North Olmsted library, which is part of the Cuyahoga County library system. Many of you are probably familiar with the work Karin has done on behalf of libraries; many of her events for this tour are taking place in libraries, and I was thrilled that one of those libraries was near me.

Karin talked about the role libraries played in her childhood and her road to publication. She acknowledged the role her father played. His hard work provided her with a life that allowed her to go to the library and read books instead of having to work to support their family. He also taught her how to do more than "be pretty."

I think anyone who has ever had a chance to listen to Karin Slaughter speak knows without any doubt that she is a born story-teller. Her abilities go beyond the written word to the spoken word as well. She's absolutely amazing and I encourage you to see her if you have the chance. I assure you, she's worth going out of your way, driving a longer distance than usual, whatever. It is a fabulous experience.

So that's been my June of author/book events. Who have you all seen recently that you really enjoyed? Did they do anything special or unique that made the experience extra special? I really encourage all of you to check out an author event at a local bookstore or library. Show some support to those folks who provide you with hours and hours of entertainment.

Now for a little down time when I can catch up on the reviews of books I've been reading, plot some fun project ideas, and update this darned blog. Have you been wondering when in the heck I'm going to get on the ball? Holy cow I need to update. Thanks for being patient with me and for coming back to visit regularly.

Happy reading everyone!

Audiobook Thursday - CAST OF SHADOWS

FIRST LINE: "This wasn't grief Davis felt, staring at her so-still feet pointing at impossible angles to the tight synthetic weave of charcoal carpet."

Davis Moore is a fertility doctor with a thriving practice and a happy family. At work he helps infertile couples bear children through a cloning process. DNA from deceased individuals is used in the process and the children are closely monitored as they mature. When Moore's teenage daughter is brutally raped and murdered, her case is never solved. Her personal effects are returned to Moore and his wife, but the police accidentally left a vial in with her belongings. The vial contains the semen collected from the rape scene. In a fit of desperation, Moore decides to use the DNA from the semen with one of his patients, thereby creating a clone of his daughter's murderer.

CAST OF SHADOWS is the 2005 debut from Kevin Guilfoile and WOW did he give himself a challenge to follow-up and attempt to surpass. CAST OF SHADOWS is everything a great book should be: layered, complex, controversial, challenging, exciting. Guilfoile throws in the controversy of the cloning issue as well as touching on nature versus nurture. Ethics are a strong theme. Where do we draw the line with science? At whose expense is it acceptable to pursue justice? Even faith receives some face time in CAST OF SHADOWS. Guilfoile isn't trying to hand out answers in this thriller but rather pose some hypotheticals about the possible waves of effect. Or maybe a web of effect is a better analogy. The different forces all act independent of one another but still touch the others. It's almost like artwork by Escher; the actual cause is not clear. If any of the factors are removed will the outcome be different?

The characters are well drawn in this novel. The desperation of a grieving father, the determination of a religious fanatic, the conflict of an innocent child caught in the midst of everything. And woven into the complexity is a violent murderer running loose and creating chaos.

Another layer of CAST OF SHADOWS is the virtual world in which the characters have avatars, Shadow World. Shadow World functions as a parallel universe of the actual characters and the avatars, but it also functions as a complex analogy of the clones.

This is a heavy novel daring to explore controversial issues and themes. If you're looking for a warm and fuzzy tale, this would not be the book. If you're looking for one to challenge you as a reader, as a member of society, as a human being. CAST OF SHADOWS is right up your alley.

I listened to CAST OF SHADOWS on audio and it wasn't one of my favorites on audio. However, I'm quite certain I'm in a very small minority on this one, so I don't want to discourage people from trying this audio. CAST OF SHADOWS is narrated by Scott Brick who has a tendency to interpret far more dramatically than what I ever hear in my head. That dramatic, almost breathy, sound is distracting for me. If you are one of Brick's many, many fans, then I'm sure you will enjoy CAST OF SHADOWS on audio. Me, on the other hand, I'm going to read Guilfoile's next in print.

CAST OF SHADOWS is available from Alfred A. Knopf in hardcover (ISBN: 978-1-400-0430-88), from Vintage in trade paper (ISBN 978-1-400-0782-64), from Books on Tape in audio (ISBN 978-1-415-9163-46).

Technorati Tags: Audiobook Thursday, audiobook review, Kevin Guilfoile

You've the Right to Six Words - Week 14

After this week, we'll have two more weeks of memoirs for this season. Since this will probably be the end, at least for awhile, I thought we should blow it out in style. Sound good? I hope so because I've stacked the next three weeks with fabulous crime fiction writers.

Debut author, Carla Buckley was born in Washington DC but her childhood was spent in Nigeria and Thailand. She and her family returned to DC when she was 10 and for college, Carla made her way up to my neck of the woods; she attended Oberlin College, where incidentally, her daughter will be starting school very shortly.  Since Carla and her family are more in the central part of Ohio these days, it may make micro-managing her daughter's life a tad bit difficult.

Carla finished college and tried her hand at graphic arts, technical writing and marketing before staying home to raise her family, and start her writing career. In February of this year, Carla saw the fruits of all her labors in writers' groups and conferences and long hours of practice pay off. THE THINGS THAT KEEP US HERE was published by Delacorte Press. THE THINGS THAT KEEP US HERE had some roots in her family's decision to pick up and move to Columbus, Ohio, leaving friends, family and everything familiar behind. Carla's follow-up to THE THINGS THAT KEEP US HERE is due out in 2011 and is tentatively titled INVISIBLE. I'm fascinated by the fact that Carla tried writing many different kinds of books for years and when a dream - or rather a nightmare - about a pandemic left her shaken, she knew she wanted to write THAT book, it was something she truly felt passionate about. She

Kept trying keys until one fit.

And we can all be thankful for her determination to keep trying.

Kevin Guilfoile has spent time all over the Northeast corner of the U.S. He was born in New Jersey, raised in New York, attended college in Indiana, and worked for the Houston Astros all before helping to create the Coudal Partners design firm in Chicago. These days, however, Kevin is making his name as a writer. He's contributed to The Morning News, McSweeney's Quarterly Concer, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic and Salon.com. He's also a contributing blogger at The Outfit. In 2005 Kevin published his first novel, CAST OF SHADOWS, and he is preparing to release his sophomore novel, which Stephen White calls "part thought-provoking mystery, part flat-out thriller." Guilfoile fans have waited and on Tuesday, Kevin delivers THE THOUSAND. I also happen to know that Kevin is very serious about the pens he uses to sign his books. So if you meet Kevin at a signing, be sure to compliment him on his pen, which continues to write because

Every story has beginning, middle
and

:-)

Our next memoirist has no regrets. Together he and his wife raised four children; he enjoys playing tennis and wishes he was musical. When Peter Abrahams decided he would write a book about a detective and his dog, he knew the book would be in first person as told by the dog. But the dog couldn't be talking. He believes "anything that thinks and has memory must have a narrative going on inside." Thus DOG ON IT and the pen name Spencer Quinn were born. As Peter Abrahams, he published eighteen novels, earning a Best Novel Edgar nomination for his novel LIGHTS OUT, wrote the Echo Falls Mysteries series for young readers, and was referred to as "my favorite American suspense novelist" by Stephen King. Now as Spencer Quinn, living in Cape Cod with his family (which includes his dog Audrey), he's preparing to release the third Chet and Bernie novel, TO FETCH A THIEF. Working in his office located over the garage, Spencer brings to life the wonderful tales of Chet and his human partner Bernie. And as he heads off to his fifteen feet commute he says,

Into the dark with no regrets.

And rounding out this incredible week we have a woman who also won accolades from Stephen King who said, "her five novels are, simply put, the finest crime-suspense series I've come across in the last twenty years."

Meg Gardiner was born and raised in the United States. While in high school in California she was a mime, and while studying law at Stanford she competed in cross-country and track. Having grown up the daughter of an English professor, books and writing were a major part of Meg's life; she always wanted to write a novel, but she found her way there via law school, a legal career and a stint teaching law writing at the University of California. When she decided she didn't want to "argue for a living," she traded her arguing for lying. Meg writes a blog titled, "Lying for a Living."

Meg moved to the UK with her husband and children in the early 1990s and this was when she began writing. CHINA LAKE was her first published novel, finding bookstores in the UK in 2002. When it made its way to the US in 2008, Meg was rewarded with the 2009 Best Paperback Original Edgar win. Meg continued with Evan Delaney, her CHINA LAKE protagonist for another four books and in 2008 she published her first novel featuring forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett,  THE DIRTY SECRETS CLUB. This summer the third book in the Jo Beckett series, THE LIAR'S LULLABY was published.

So what does the three-time Jeopardy champ, escaped attorney, mother and author have to say about this array of accomplishments?

Love, kids, writing:
went for it.

And we are the great benefactors of her leap of faith. Many, many thanks once again to our wonderful authors for their time and enthusiasm. What absolute fun! I hope you all enjoyed this week's roundup. Man, is there ever a slew of great book titles in this post. Let us know which you've enjoyed or which you're going to check out now. And we'll see you back here next week for our penultimate week of memoirs.

Happy Reading!

Technorati Tags: You've the Right to Six Words, Carla Buckley, Kevin Guilfoile, Spencer Quinn, Meg Gardiner