author

Author On the Bookcase
Ann Joslin Williams

I'm excited to welcome Ann Joslin Williams, author of Down from Cascom Mountain, to On the Bookcase. Set in rugged New Hampshire in the aftermath of a fatal accident, Down From Cascom Mountain explores grief, desire and identity. Mary Hall overcomes her grief from the death of her husband.

Author On the Bookcase
Kelly O'Connor McNees

So thrilled to welcome Kelly O’Connor McNees, author of The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott. Kelly's story includes factual accounts with fictional ideas to study Alcott's life and loves. With fine details from 19-century New England, the novel centers on a fictional period of her life -- Louisa attracts the attention and affection of Joseph Singer, a charming merchant.

Author On the Bookcase
Claudia Sternbach

I'm excited to welcome Claudia Sternbach, author of Reading Lips: A Memoir  of Kisses. Claudia takes a unique platform to tell her story.  Kisses -- a father's kiss, first love kiss, best friend kiss -- tell the tale about small and, sometimes big, moments in one's life. This book is Claudia's life in her kisses.

Kiss and tell, Claudia! 

One Kiss is Never Enough
by Claudia Sternbach

It wasn't that I sat down one day and decided to write a book about kisses. I am not that clever.

Teaser Tuesdays
The Lotus Eaters

I'm re-reading The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli to prepare for the Reading Group Choices panel on March 18 at the Virginia Festival of the Book. Tatjana, Carolyn Parkhurst (The Nobodies Album, Lost and Found, The Dogs of Babel), Myla Goldberg (The False Friend, Bee Season), and William Cobb (The Last Queen of the Gypsies) are the panelists.

Author On the Bookcase
Teresa Medeiros

I'm excited to welcome Teresa Medeiros, author of Goodnight Tweetheart, to On the Bookcase. Goodnight Tweetheart is a look (very humorous look, at times) at modern communication and the love game. The main character, Abby, is writing her second novel and is at an impasse. Will this new fangled social media site, Twitter, release her writer's block and find her love, as well? Told almost entirely in tweets and DMs, Goodnight Tweetheart is a truly modern take on a classic tale of love and loss — a Griffin and Sabine for the Twitter generation.

Author On the Bookcase
Jennifer Vanderbes

I'm thrilled to welcome Jennifer Vanderbes, author of the new book, Strangers at the Feasts, to On the Bookcase. On Thanksgiving Day 2007, three generations of the Olson family gather. While the Olsons navigate the tensions and secrets that mark their relationships, seventeen-year-old Kijo Jackson and his best friend Spider set out from the nearby housing projects on a mysterious job. A series of tragic events bring these two worlds ever closer, exposing the dangerously thin line between suburban privilege and urban poverty, and culminating in a crime that will change everyone's life.

Jennifer writes stories that "attempt to answer certain questions." A simple "what if" question started the story that became Strangers at the Feast.

Author On the Bookcase
Julia Stuart

Both my parents are from England, all my relatives live there, and I visited the Tower twice. So, I really enjoyed The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise and am so excited to welcome Julia Stuart, author of The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise! Julia's novel is about the Tower of London and its inhabitants --human and animal. All the Beefeaters actually live in the Tower and this story is about one Beefeater named Balthazar Jones, his wife, Hebe, and their the 180-year old tortoise.

Author On the Bookcase
Laura Morowitz

I'm thrilled to speak to Laura Morowitz, co-author with Laurie Lico Albanese, of The Miracles of Prato. Art in a book -- love these historical novels centered around real-live artists and their lifes! It helps me learn about past artists and the history and politics that surrounded them.

The Miracles of Prato brings to life glorious Italy in the era of the Medici —as it tells the story of an illicit love affair between the renowned painter Fra Filippo Lippi and his muse, a beautiful convent novitiate named Lucrezia Buti. Lippi, the chaplain for Convent Santa Margherita sees in Lucrezia's flawless face inspiration for countless Madonnas and he brings the her to his studio to serve as his model.

Author On the Bookcase
Mitchell James Kaplan  

History and religion and politics -- oh my!

I'm pleased to welcome Mitchell James Kaplan, author of the debut novel, By Fire, By Water. Mitchell's book tells the heartbreaking story of Luis de Santangel, the courtier who convinced Queen Isabella to sponsor Christopher Columbus’s voyage of discovery in 1492.