writer

AUTHOR SQUARED
Michele Young-Stone
Cara Hoffman

Two Authors chat about writing, books, and everything in between

I'm excited to welcome Michele Young-Stone (The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors) and Cara Hoffman (So Much Pretty) to Author Squared.

Take it away, Michele and Cara!

Michele: I have some questions I’m dying to ask you.

Author On the Bookcase
Alan Cheuse

I'm so thrilled to welcome Alan Cheuse -- writer, professor, NPR book reviewer -- to On the Bookcase! I met Alan at the 2011 Virginia Festival of the Book, again at the 2011 Gaithersburg Book Festival and then at the St. John's College The Art of the Book. We keep bumping into each other!  

What does the word "browsing" mean to you? A computer term? Alan shares his idea of browsing -- "a form of dreaming."

The Pleasures and Necessity of Browsing 

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a browser. But it didn’t begin for me with books.

Author On the Bookcase
Aine Greaney

I'm excited to welcome, Aine Greaney, author of Dance Lessons. Aine's novel tell the story of Ellen Boisvert who discovered her late husband, Fintan, was not an orphan at all -- his mother, Jo, is living in a lakeside village, the westside of Ireland. Ellen, a thirty-nine-year-old American prep school teacher, packs her bags and boards a plane to Ireland to reveal the secrets of Fintan's family.

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.

Around the Bend
Exposure by Therese Fowler

Around the Bend is an On the Bookcase Feature bringing attention to upcoming reading group-appropriate titles.

I'm so excited! Random House sent me an ARC of Therese's new title, Exposure (May 2011). I met Therese at the Virginia Festival of Books (VABOOK) 3 or 4 years ago. (Time flies when you have having fun!) She was on the Reading Group Choices' panel. Therese is a great writer and a fun person. Her previous novels are Souvenir and Reunion - both excellent reading group picks. And, I get to see her next week in DC for the Association of Writers & Writing Progmans.  

Here's the scoop!

Publisher Summary

Amelia Wilkes’s strict father does not allow her to date, but that doesn’t stop the talented, winsome high school senior from carrying on a secret romance with her classmate Anthony Winter.

Author On the Bookcase

Ayelet Waldman

Ayelet Waldman, author of a new book Red Hook Road, writes about questions that readers asks of authors.  And, the one answer she is too embarrassed to tell.  

"There comes a moment at every literary event, a moment every author dreads, when the lights go up and the Q&A starts. The vast majority of the Q is fine (I can’t speak for the A, you’ll have to be the judge). What book am I reading now, when did I first want to become a writer, how do my children feel about the title of my last book. I like those Qs. I like especially the Qs that haven’t been asked before, the ones that give me a chance to depart from my practiced answers.

I'm so please to welcome Hyatt Bass, author of The Embers, to On the Bookcase. Hyatt talks with us about the writer and the reader and the lovely balance between the two.

Soon after I sold The Embers to my publisher, I went

You love a book, relate to the characters, and the book discussion was lively! You tell your friends, family, and sometimes, strangers in the grocery line -- a word-of-mouth campaign!

This video is so cool. Maurice Gee's short stories and novels are well known for their real or imaginatively reworked local settings, dysfunctional families and sketches of violence.