Authors in the Flesh | Scribbles & Wanderlust

Category: Authors in the Flesh

Authors in the Flesh: Jennifer Niven, Trisha Leaver, Sharon Biggs Waller, & more!

Posted at 6:15 am by Laura, on May 6, 2015

In the last week of April, I met five spectacular authors. Jennifer Niven (All the Bright Places), Sharon Biggs Waller (A Mad, Wicked Folly), Trisha Leaver (The Secrets We Keep), Shannon Lee Alexander (Love and Other Unknown Variables), and Lisa Aldin (One of the Guys) came to the bookstore for signings.

I told Niven I was so excited to meet her that I wanted to apologize if I fangirl-screamed. When she walked through the store doors, we grabbed arms, squealed, and hugged. Her book chat with readers went really well, and the signing was packed. She signed books, chatted with each person for several minutes, took selfies with everyone, had readers sign her copy of her book, and even offered advice or networked with readers deeply moved by the book or bloggers looking to make more contacts. Bless her heart, she was still signing books and talking to readers after the store had closed. If Niven is going to your area, you must meet her. She’s a beautiful person, inside and out!

Shannon, Sharon, Trisha, and Lisa — sorry for the blur!

Later that week, the store had a Teen Author Panel, with all but one author from Indiana. I was most excited to meet Waller, as she and I have been chatting about books, BBC TV, history, and all things Anglophile since A Mad, Wicked Folly came out. I tapped her on the shoulder, and mid-conversation she turned around and gave me a hug. “You’re real!” Leaver was incredibly helpful to me, as well, dispensing advice and suggestions regarding editors she knows at various imprints. Alexander and Aldin are regular customers at the bookstore, so it was really neat to see them acting as authors, mini-celebrities, and watching them enjoy the discussion. My favorite question of the night was, “If you could be any character from any book, who would you be and why?” (asked by Mary Claire @ Real Rad Reads) and Alexander and Waller had their immediate responses: “Cath, cause Levi” (Alexander), and “Claire, cause Jamie” (Waller). Haha!

Have you read any of these books or met any of these authors? Share your story!

Posted in Authors in the Flesh, books | 0 Comments | Tagged authors, books, genre: contemporary, genre: historical fiction, genre: romance, genre: young adult, personal, signings

Authors in the Flesh: Victoria Schwab, AC Gaughen, & Tiffany Schmidt

Posted at 8:25 am by Laura, on March 20, 2014

Tuesday evening I had the pleasure of hearing three great YA authors read from their books and meeting one in particular, Victoria “V. E.” Schwab!

DSCN0481v2

Children’s Book World of Haverford, PA, regularly hosts children’s and YA author events and signings. Tuesday night Schwab (The Archived, The Unbound, Vicious, etc), A. C. “Annie” Gaughen (Scarlet, Lady Thief), and Tiffany Schmidt (Bright Before Sunrise, Send Me a Sign) gave us a brief synopsis of their latest books and then opened up the discussion to the floor. Instead of reading pre-selected passages, they asked us to choose between pages 1 and 100 and they would read a sentence (“My sentences are short!” –Schwab) or small passage from that page. Gaughen’s were steamy, Schmidt’s revealed sneak-peaks into the minds of two characters, and Schwab’s were philosophical.

The best moments were when the authors became passionate about why they wrote these particular books. For Gaughen, it stemmed from a love of history, particularly Robin Hood lore and Eleanor of Aquitaine, of creating a fierce, frustrated, independent female character to take place of the poorly represented female of Hood lore. Schmidt wanted to debunk the whole “mean girl” high school hierarchy, that some of the popular girls are that way for being friendly, nice, people-pleasing. The issue lies in identity: if she’s too busy trying to make others comfortable, then who does she want to be? And Schwab’s inspiration stemmed from a desire to write about a hotel-turned-apartment building (setting 1) and a library of the dead (setting 2). The library of the dead came from her fear of death: that, as humans, we are composed of memories and experiences for a short period and then we disappear forever — unless these bodies filled with memories (Histories) are later stored for safe keeping. There’s a possibility for us to wake. Combine the two settings, and voila! rief introductions about their latest books and then opened up the floor for a game: rather than read a pre-selected passage, they wanted us to shout out a random number between 1 and 100 and they would read a sentence (“My sentences are short!” –Schwab) or small passage from that page number. Gaughen’s passages were filled with heavy breathing and sexy times (which we all enjoyed), Schmidt’s had a great selection of two perspectives stating their thoughts, and Schwab’s were existential and philosophical.

I also really enjoyed how fired up they got regarding female authors in the industry. There’s so much I can state on this — how degrading it feels when a male says, “I’m surprised how great you are in this genre even though you have lady parts,” etc etc — and it was clear they had a lot to say as well, but there’s only so much time in an evening. What are your thoughts? Particularly thriller and sci-fi/fantasy readers? Does it matter to you if a male or female wrote the book, and why/why not?

When it came time for signing, I went straight to Schwab and reminded her of my tweet from earlier that morning. She remembered and we immediately went on about YA Gothic, wanting to live in the UK, and her plans to move to Edinburgh for graduate school. She claims her degree has nothing to do with writing, but I suspect what she’ll study will seep into her already brilliant books.

Final plug: when you see A Darker Shade of Magic in the future, note that what Schwab really wanted to call it was Pirates, Thieves, and Sadist Kings.