Book Signings and Visions

Over the years, I have been to many book signings. Some have been small, some huge, some unbelievable. Back in the olden days, I worked for Crown Books. Then, authors were magical creatures. I would get a little giddy when someone came and offered to just sign her stock. Because, wow. She was an author. To me, she was a celebrity. Even if I'd never heard of her book. And back in those days, the late 80s and early 90s, publishers actually took their people on tours. From city to city. To meet their readers. O. My. Freaking. Giddy. Aunt. You mean, I said to my district manager (called the DM, or Dungeon Master), you mean I might meet... Nora Roberts?

Well, no. I didn't. She'd pop into the store in White flint. To shop. And I'd miss it. Dave from Berkeley would talk about how pleasant she was, how great she was to work with. And instead, I was stuck with Jay Leno, Brett Butler, Michael Moore, and Naomi Judd. Ok, ok. I did get my biggest absolute squeeing oh wow oh wow oh wow when our store hosted... (are you sitting down? diagnosed with vasovagal?) (Ready?) Yes. It's true. Julia Child. THE Julia Child. J.U.L.I.A. C.H.I.LD. Her. Tall. Funny. Cooks. A lot. Yeah. I met her. And it was amazing. And I have two cookbooks autographed by her. I do. Yes. Julia Child. And what struck me then, what I've kept with me always, is that the people around her, her publicists or whoever they were from the publisher, treated her exactly as they should. Like she was a National Treasure. They handled her the way I saw artifacts handled at the Smithsonian when I interned there during college. The other thing that struck me was her fans. Not the number, but the diversity. Young, old, every race and color, wealthy and modest. There was no pigeon holing a Julia Child fan. They are everyone. And they were legion. And she was gracious and kind to every single one of them.  It was a lesson for me. There is always room for graciousness when it comes to your fans and readers.

Not that I have any. Yet.

A few years ago, I attended the Literacy Signing at Romance Writers of America annual conference. It was in Orlando that year. Hot. Sticky. And you have never, ever seen the like of a book signing until you attend this one. Row after row of published authors, selling books to raise money for literacy charities in the States. It was amazing. And I nearly became legless with euphoria. Because Carole Mortimer was there. In Orlando. At RWA. Signing. I got my picture with her. I gushed. I had read her since I was 14. I could site plot lines and characters.  I mean, I'd been reading her since high school, if not junior high. And there she was. It was amazing. My reading tastes have changed, I have other authors that I read, but Carole Mortimer made me a romance reader. And she made me want to write romance. Getting the chance to meet her was like candy and pecans and champagne and creme brulee all rolled up in one.

Probably my next favorite book signing has been those for friends of mine, signing their first books. Leigh Duncan. Michelle Monkou. Heidi Betts. Kathryn Caskie. It is the greatest, proudest feeling watching them smile at a reader and ask her name. And then sign theirs.  On the title page. Awesome.

Oh, and I did get to meet Nora. Finally. At a writer event. She signed my well loved hard back copy of Honest Illusions. Funny. I don't re-read this one any more. There are other books by her that I turn to again and again - the trilogies, usually. But she was another one who taught me about graciousness. I've attended several author events at Turn the Page in Boonsboro, Maryland, the line is long. The store is packed. And she smiles and greets every reader as though she were the first person in the line. (instead of the 112th).

Tell me about your favorite book signing. Maybe you were signing a book or maybe you attended one of a favorite author? Will you go see the same author again and again? (but can't yet be construed to be a stalker?)  

Group Dynamics

As some of you may know, I love watching television shows in one big gulp. The entire season. In as few sittings as possible. It's probably similar to my reading one author's books all at once, like when I went on a Janet Evanovich run and read all 18 Stephanie Plum/Morelli/Ranger novels. Scrummy. Even when they were repetitive. Or all of Amanda Quick's novels, starting with Seduction and moving forward to the Arcane novels.  What can I say. I'm a completist.

So, series. What is it about a series that I love so much? It isn't the soap opera, though I'm sure some of the shows I watch have it. (Hello Damon/Stefan/Elena!) But when I look at the shows I watch, it is the characters and the ensemble cast.  Big Bang Theory works so well not because the characters are growing and changing and arcing. It works because of the cast - and also didn't work when Raj's sister was added in as a love interest for Leonard. Her character detracted from the show, though it was fun to watch Amy and Bernadette stand by Penny throughout the season.

Sometimes, the soap takes over and change has to happen in order to save the show. Like Vampire Diaries. We ALL wanted Elena to dump Stefan and choose Damon.  But giving in to the sexual tension can be the death of a show (hello Moonlighting) (and also goodbye Remington Steele). This year, finally, Elena GETS TO HAVE SEX WITH DAMON, and I stopped watching it mid-season because without the antici- of maybe sexy times with Damon- pation, the show got incredibly complicated. So complicated, in fact, that the cast had to all sit down in one episode and explain who was killing whom, which werewolf was under which Original's spell, and who was controlling the witches and on and on and I just didn't care, because Stefan looked like a big pouty boy and Damon was finally getting his payoff for being hawt and brooding and misunderstood.

My current marathon is Jethro Gibbs and his team and NCIS. There is no soap here. It is episodic, a little slapstick, and the sexual tension is kept incredibly mild. Instead, I am drawn in to watching Gibbs father his band of merry agents. Of course, it helps that he is hot, though maybe not Damon hot. He's an alpha who leads his pack and is always always there for them. As I watched season 1, I was struck by the fact that nobody has really changed. Even edgy, funky Abby with her tats and her pigtails, still, 9 seaons later, has the same tats and pigtails. Where did her edge go? Wouldn't someone that out there have changed her style by now? When will McGee stop being a Probie? And seriously, would the show not work if Tony, finally, grew up and got a wife and family? But I'm still watching it. Because of Gibbs. If they take him out of the equation (and if I remember correctly, they will one of these seasons), then the show will fall apart.

Look at Buffy. Those writers never gave that woman a break in the romance department. But as I was saying, they were able to remove Angel from the equation, and the show still flourished. Until that horrific was it 5^th season? The Willow the Bad Witch season, all crackly faced and revengeful? If only they had given her the Oz for reals, and not just for a season or so. He made a great addition to the cast. Crackle face did not.  I'm still astounded by the choice to shift time and space and give Buffy a sister. Just give her a fully formed, teenaged sister. In what, season five. And because the show is paranormal, it could be explained away and that was that.

But how does this relate to writing. Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick/Jayne Castle has been writing series over the last few years. Some that connect laterally through a single sub genre, and some that connect unilaterally through all three. But one thing I've noticed is she has very little connection from one book to the next. You may get a brief scene or two, but not much more. In her Amarylis/Zinnia/Orchid series, there was a tiny bit more overlap, but generally she holds each book to its own cast of characters. Maybe there will be an object that will appear in each, and a few times a character may be introduced, but don't  expect to get a lovely glimpse of them again the way that Susan Elizabeth Philips does in her Chicago Stars series.          I get the feeling with Jayne Ann Krentz that when her hero and heroine have solved the crime and admitted their love, the story is over for her, and the characters can be put to bed. 

But when I reach the end of the book, I still want to be in that world. I still want to know what's going on. Are they happy? Do they still have friends, even though the world is no longer about to end or neither character is having to fend off a deranged killer. I care if they marry or have children or remain friends with characters in other books. Nora Roberts, for me, is the master when it comes to groups and group scenes. Her ability to create such authentic composites is incredible. Whether as part of a series when the Scooby gang is finally altogether, or in one of her stand alones, her development of separate characters, giving them all there own voice, their own mannerisms, is quite remarkable.  

Tell me which ensemble cast shows or books work for you? Do you have a favorite? Are you in it for the soap or for Scooby gang?  How easily do you grow bored with a series, book or tv show? Why? 

The Simple Pleasure of Summer Reading

Ah, Memorial Day… The Unofficial First Day of Summer. We can employ the hot months ahead any way we want—thanks to our troops, both past and present, who secure our fundamental rights. These inalienable rights give us an additional gift as well. We’re allowed to enjoy life’s simple pleasures, summer’s pleasures.

Think back. What were the simple pleasures of your childhood summers? Remember those sultry nights when Mom said we could stay up as long as we wanted—provided we were reading? When our flashlights lit the sheets tented over our heads while we read, camped out in the backyard? Can you hear the whir of the window fans at the county library as you chose favorite books as well as books by authors you’d never read before?

I can.

Even though I’m all grown up, those days aren’t far away. With my newly-minted master’s degree in my hot little hand, and some serious school work behind me, this Memorial Day truly feels like the start of summer. And I’m ready for the simple pleasure of fun summer reading.

Here are the top five titles in Nic's Summer To Be Read stack:

5. The Hitman’s Guide to Housecleaning by Hallgrimur Helgason

If you’ve fallen prey to Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or Henning Mankell’s Wallander series, you know all about the Scandinavian Invasion. Dark and brooding, raw and relentless, these mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels from the far north are great reads now finding a following in English-speaking markets—but they can be too much depending on your frame of mind. So if this year’s offerings, like The Boy in the Suitcase, seem a little daunting, follow my lead. Give Icelander Hallgrimur Helgason’s Hitman, and his lighter shade of Nordic Noir, a try.

4. The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

I confess. I’m one of the four million grown-ups watching the television incarnation of Shepard’s first brain child, Pretty Little Liars. Though geared toward teens and tweens, the show is deliciously addicting even for adults. That said, the Liar books tend to fall flat for the mature reader. Now, enter The Lying Game. It’s a YA novel as well, but unlike its TV adaptation it features a twisty mystery, a blossoming romance, and a touch of the paranormal that are perfect fun for summer reading. Game on!

3. Taken by Robert Crais

Robert. Crais. Nuff said. Ask me why and I’ll say, “Tell me why not.” If Raymond Chandler were alive today, I’d bet money he’d read Taken. Crais is a master of characterization, plot, pacing, the reversal, and the reveal. Rather than a summer picnic, his work is as satisfying as a winter feast.

2. The Witness by Nora Roberts

Since 1980, Nora Roberts’ work has become the heart of the American Romance novel. Now, with The Witness, she presents her 200^th book. And it’s already waiting for me on the back porch. After all, what could be better on a hot summer evening than fighting crime and finding love from the comfort of my wicker chaise? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

1. A Study in Sherlock edited by Laurie King and Leslie Klinger

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s sleuth has been a staple of the stage, screen, and bookshelf since Mrs. Hudson first rented rooms at 221B Baker Street to a couple of misfits over a hundred years ago. What is it about Sherlock Holmes that continues to tickle our collective fancy? I’m not sure I can put my finger on it, but I can’t stop trying. This new collection features short stories by Lee Child, Neil Gaiman, Laura Lippman, SJ Rozan, Dana Stabenow, and Jacequline Winspear—just to name a few of the fabulous mystery writers with whom I’ll be celebrating Sherlock, story by story, this summer.

Ah, summer… It’ll be gone before we know it even though Memorial Day is still with us. In the days ahead, enjoy the season’s simple pleasures—like reading. Now, with that said, what’s in your To Be Read stack this summer?

Anticipation

Do you know when your favorite author's next book is due out? Do you wait with bated breath? (or is it baited breath, which makes me picture a hook with a minnow stuck to it hanging form my uvula.) Maybe pre-order it? Are you one to read the reviews first, then decide to buy, or do you trust your author enough to just snap it up, willy nilly? And then, do you sit down right then and there and read the thing?

When I first graduated from college, I worked for a bookstore, and there was introduced to the likes of Jayne Ann Krentz, Katherine Sutcliffe and Julie Garwood. I would snatch those new books straight out of their boxes and spend the rest of the day waiting to get home to read them. The orange couch saw many a late night with me curled up on it, reading. Julie Garwood and I pulled more than one all-nighter because I was completely unable to stop reading.

And, oh Lord, when Harry Potter and I became acquainted. Well, thank the Good Lord for the internet, because I was ordering the UK editions from Waterstones. When Book 4 (HP & the Goblet of Fire), I picked it up from the small bookstore on 23rd Avenue in Portland, took it home that night, and read it nearly straight through. I was off on Sunday, skipped church, and read. I'd finished it by dinner. The day after its release. And the only way I could stave off the growling anticipation was to order, once again, the UK edition and read that through. And, sweet mother happiness, when that woman, that author, began taking more than a year, more than two between books, I would read through the whole series, US and UK editions, just to while away the time.

I have a friend who will buy her long awaited new book - maybe by Karen Marie Moning, maybe by Susan Elizabeth Peters - and then not read it until ... later. It was placed on a shelf (left in a bag in the car? Shoved in a drawer?) for sometimes weeks before she picked it up to read. So the anticipation could grow. And all I can think is, how on earth do you stand it??? Another friend made the decision not to buy the latest HP until the next was about to be released. Oh, for the love of Pete, do you know how many secrets from the damn Order of the Phoenix I had to keep to myself because she wanted to hold off the gratification? Now, was that nice of her to do that to me??? (Good thing my name's not Sheldon Cooper!)

I find trilogies and continuing series particularly difficult. Nora Roberts is a complete master of the trilogy, particularly. And each one offers a piece of the whole. In her Blood Brothers series, I mean, of course I knew the three couples would form out of the six characters, but still... how would they save the world together?

I am already counting down to October 25th - as long as UPS decides to actually leave the parcels at my door - as two of my go-to authors have new books coming out. Kristin Higgins latest, and Tamora Pierce's final book in Beka Cooper's trilogy. The next nine days will find me re-reading the other two books in that trilogy to further tighten my eagerness to read Beka's book. And I've heard tell that Kristin Higgins may actually be adding the hero's POV to this book. But don't quote me on that. Maybe that was for the next book and not this one. All I can say is, I am going to be very tired come Wednesday the 26th...

A woman sitting beside me at a Starbucks said in sympathy to me one afternoon as I closed my book, obviously having finished it, what will you do now? I smiled at her, and calmly pulled the next book in the series from the depths of my bag. I'd come prepared. Even if I didn't open the new book immediately, it was there, ready to soothe my nerves and lead me into the next adventure.