I read every once in a while during high school, and I include my "required reading" in that every once in a while. I distinctly remember getting a 99% on an exam about Chen Village without ever reading the book. When I got to college, I had all this free time and I couldn't spend it all partying. Good thing I met my two best friends and they introduced me to lots of awesome things. These pictures are of Maureen and me. Maureen got me hooked on the Harry Potter series and Nora Roberts books during my freshman year. (I actually got into a verbal spat with the people in the mail room when my copy of Goblet of Fire didn't come in by 10am the next day as Amazon promised) She is the reason I am the avid reader I am today. Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you, Maureen? BLINDSIDED. She gave me Nora Roberts' The Villa and I was hooked. I tediously collected every book Roberts ever published--in used book stores, from Ebay in huge lots of books, just anywhere I could find them. It makes me so happy to think of the weekend days we spent just laying around in our dorm room reading all day. Fast forward seven years. When I was in grad school, Maureen introduced me to Susan Elizabeth Phillips...and then I bought every book she's written for my Kindle and read probably five or six that week alone. Though I do read some other romance authors these days, the only two I insta-buy and read are Roberts and Phillips. I've been a fan ever since my entry book (It Had To Be You) so when I found out Phillips was touring for her newest book, I was so excited to go. Alas, no event was near enough for me to attend. Therefore, I did what any blogger worth her salt would do: I called up my best friend and fellow SEP fan and asked if she'd go to the event near her and cover it for the blog. Thankfully, she agreed. Problem solved! So here she is!
Okay, so don't be too jealous, Flannery...but I have a new BFF! And her name is Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Granted it might not be totally reciprocal just yet, but we'll get there! I just know it!
The reason I have decided that we are besties is that she threw the MOST fabulous book event, ever, ever, ever this past Sunday. Her new book, The Great Escape, comes out on today (July 10th), so she is just kicking off her supporting book tour (more on the book later!).
First of all, let me just tellllllllll you about the venue. It was hosted by Lutz Cafe and Pastry Shop, and this place is like a sweet Bavarian dream. An unassuming little shop front opens into an adorable bakery - with a pastry case full of jaw-droppingly beautiful goodness, and as you wander to the back, there is a fabulously formal dining room with linen table cloths and gorgeous place settings. Through the back door is a patio area with several tables under umbrellas nestled into a beautifully landscaped garden, with a little fountain in the middle. It really felt like we had stepped into a German mountaintop scene. So while we were swooning over this, the group of girls I arrived with - which included Sarah of the Brazen Bookworm (a fab book blog everyone should read), snagged a table with a great view. Then we were able to purchase advance copies (!!!) of the book, from local independent bookstore, Anderson's. As an aside, I love that SEP is such a supporter of independent bookstores. She is from the Chicago suburbs, and has been using Anderson's for book events forever (one of the many points in her favor for bestie-dom).
The reason I have decided that we are besties is that she threw the MOST fabulous book event, ever, ever, ever this past Sunday. Her new book, The Great Escape, comes out on today (July 10th), so she is just kicking off her supporting book tour (more on the book later!).
First of all, let me just tellllllllll you about the venue. It was hosted by Lutz Cafe and Pastry Shop, and this place is like a sweet Bavarian dream. An unassuming little shop front opens into an adorable bakery - with a pastry case full of jaw-droppingly beautiful goodness, and as you wander to the back, there is a fabulously formal dining room with linen table cloths and gorgeous place settings. Through the back door is a patio area with several tables under umbrellas nestled into a beautifully landscaped garden, with a little fountain in the middle. It really felt like we had stepped into a German mountaintop scene. So while we were swooning over this, the group of girls I arrived with - which included Sarah of the Brazen Bookworm (a fab book blog everyone should read), snagged a table with a great view. Then we were able to purchase advance copies (!!!) of the book, from local independent bookstore, Anderson's. As an aside, I love that SEP is such a supporter of independent bookstores. She is from the Chicago suburbs, and has been using Anderson's for book events forever (one of the many points in her favor for bestie-dom).
so cute, right?
And then! The grand entrance! SEP walks in (wearing a super cute dress and little heels), and just starts walking table to table introducing herself and chatting with everyone. She came up to our table and asked us each our names and what we do for a living - and was very excited to hear that there were representatives from two different book blogs! She chatted with us about her drive in from Naperville (a Chicago suburb about 45 minutes from downtown), told a few funny stories, and was just generally charming.
As she moved on to another table, we were offered our choice of coffee or tea and a dessert selection from that amazing display. Seriously, this was the best $10 ticket I have ever purchased. I am not 100% sure what was in my pastry - but it was delicious and amazing and heart-shaped:
As she moved on to another table, we were offered our choice of coffee or tea and a dessert selection from that amazing display. Seriously, this was the best $10 ticket I have ever purchased. I am not 100% sure what was in my pastry - but it was delicious and amazing and heart-shaped:
#sweetdream
So onto the actual talking about books! The set up was really conducive to a casual and informal conversation, rather than SEP standing at a podium in a more formal or structured event. Apparently, she has been asking her publisher to arrange more events like this because she really loves getting a chance to meet and interact with her readers (another point on her bestie score card). So she just stood up and started telling some stories about her recent European book tour. I think it is so interesting to know where certain books do so, so well - and then where they totally flop. SEP said that her books have not done terribly well in France or Italy, but that the Germans go CRAZY for her stuff. So much so, that when she was there, she had an entire entourage of people travelling with her to see to her every need (which she said was so so fun and felt very fancy!). Apparently the British are not fans of her books, AT ALL - the British branch of her publisher won't even sell them there, because her books are "too American" - isn't that crazy?! Those Brits don't know what they are missing. Part of her tour was also in Croatia and Slovenia - and SEP noted that while her books (and the whole romance genre) tends to do very well there, there are very few, if any, homegrown romance novelists from any of those countries.
She also shared some funny stories and mishaps from her tour - things like being afraid of birds and totally losing it at a fancy lunch when a bird flew into the restaurant, and waiting to make a big splashy entrance at an event, only to completely faceplant into her translator. Haha, it was just too funny - she summed it up nicely that when someone gets into as many ridiculous situations as she does, "Well, its just hard to try to be sophisticated!" (down to earth = another point!). So then she launched into a trivia game, which was hysterical. She asked that we not reveal her questions since I think she will be continuing to play this game on her tour and it would ruin the fun to give away the answers. But they were fun and funny questions about previous books, her characters and their backgrounds. (likes playing games = CLEARLY a point in her favor).
When we started talking about the actual new book, The Great Escape, SEP pointed out that she just can't talk about this one without also talking about her previous book, Call Me Irresistible. She did note, however, that she doesn't really think of any of her books as part of a series, but rather that since all of her characters live in the same world, they just have a habit of showing up in her other books. When she set out to write Call Me Irresistible, she really wanted to tell Ted Beaudine's story. Ted is a character who first showed up in Fancy Pants as a little boy, and then we see him again in Lady Be Good, this time as a recent college graduate. Phillips said that she just loves Ted as a character, and that when she wrote about him in Fancy Pants as a child, her two sons were just around his age, so Ted became a little bit of both of her sons, which apparently is the only time that she has created a character based on someone she knew in real life. So while SEP loved his character, so did all of her readers, and apparently she was regularly pestered to tell his story. Then SEP wrote First Lady and she just fell in love with the character Lucy Jorik. The first time I read First Lady, I totally thought Lucy was the best character I had read in awhile - she is fiesty and pissed off and super protective of her baby sister, and just heartbreaking. Love it.
Anyways, SEP totally thought that Lucy and Ted would be absolutely perfect for each other...until she realized that they both WERE just too perfect and are too 'together' to be good for one another. Which is why Meg Koranda, first seen in What I Did For Love, had to show up and get that wedding derailed. This point is where The Great Escape starts - Lucy realizes that Meg was right when she said that marrying Ted would be a huge mistake, so just before she walks down the aisle she calls of the wedding and runs away. (Not a spoiler, don't worry. That part is all in the GR summary). When SEP was working on Call Me Irresistible and announced that Ted and Lucy weren't going to end up together, apparently people were SUPER pissed at her - she laughingly admitted that she got hate mail over it! Sheesh.
Phillips originally thought that she would be able to tell Lucy's story as a subplot of Call Me Irresistible, but as she got deeper into the story, she decided that there was more to the story and that it really needed to be its own book (thanks for that!!). So she pulled everything that she could about Lucy's story out of the book. There were just two phone calls between Meg and Lucy that had to be kept - so SEP knew that whatever else she did as she was writing The Great Escape, she HAD to get to those two plot points. The story of Lucy and Panda (ugh, that name, I KNOW), got a whole book to sort out their messy situations. (Note from Flann: PANDA? SERIOUSLY?)
She also shared some funny stories and mishaps from her tour - things like being afraid of birds and totally losing it at a fancy lunch when a bird flew into the restaurant, and waiting to make a big splashy entrance at an event, only to completely faceplant into her translator. Haha, it was just too funny - she summed it up nicely that when someone gets into as many ridiculous situations as she does, "Well, its just hard to try to be sophisticated!" (down to earth = another point!). So then she launched into a trivia game, which was hysterical. She asked that we not reveal her questions since I think she will be continuing to play this game on her tour and it would ruin the fun to give away the answers. But they were fun and funny questions about previous books, her characters and their backgrounds. (likes playing games = CLEARLY a point in her favor).
When we started talking about the actual new book, The Great Escape, SEP pointed out that she just can't talk about this one without also talking about her previous book, Call Me Irresistible. She did note, however, that she doesn't really think of any of her books as part of a series, but rather that since all of her characters live in the same world, they just have a habit of showing up in her other books. When she set out to write Call Me Irresistible, she really wanted to tell Ted Beaudine's story. Ted is a character who first showed up in Fancy Pants as a little boy, and then we see him again in Lady Be Good, this time as a recent college graduate. Phillips said that she just loves Ted as a character, and that when she wrote about him in Fancy Pants as a child, her two sons were just around his age, so Ted became a little bit of both of her sons, which apparently is the only time that she has created a character based on someone she knew in real life. So while SEP loved his character, so did all of her readers, and apparently she was regularly pestered to tell his story. Then SEP wrote First Lady and she just fell in love with the character Lucy Jorik. The first time I read First Lady, I totally thought Lucy was the best character I had read in awhile - she is fiesty and pissed off and super protective of her baby sister, and just heartbreaking. Love it.
Anyways, SEP totally thought that Lucy and Ted would be absolutely perfect for each other...until she realized that they both WERE just too perfect and are too 'together' to be good for one another. Which is why Meg Koranda, first seen in What I Did For Love, had to show up and get that wedding derailed. This point is where The Great Escape starts - Lucy realizes that Meg was right when she said that marrying Ted would be a huge mistake, so just before she walks down the aisle she calls of the wedding and runs away. (Not a spoiler, don't worry. That part is all in the GR summary). When SEP was working on Call Me Irresistible and announced that Ted and Lucy weren't going to end up together, apparently people were SUPER pissed at her - she laughingly admitted that she got hate mail over it! Sheesh.
Phillips originally thought that she would be able to tell Lucy's story as a subplot of Call Me Irresistible, but as she got deeper into the story, she decided that there was more to the story and that it really needed to be its own book (thanks for that!!). So she pulled everything that she could about Lucy's story out of the book. There were just two phone calls between Meg and Lucy that had to be kept - so SEP knew that whatever else she did as she was writing The Great Escape, she HAD to get to those two plot points. The story of Lucy and Panda (ugh, that name, I KNOW), got a whole book to sort out their messy situations. (Note from Flann: PANDA? SERIOUSLY?)
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Here is a brief summary of the Q&A:
What's next?
Working on a new book but is still pretty early on in the process so she wouldn't share any more than the fact that it will be a total stand alone, which she knows "everyone will moan and groan and whine about."
What is her writing routine?
When she started writing, she decided to approach it like any other job - "just as if I was a secretary and simply had to go to work everyday." She writes everyday, even on weekends, when she can, so she doesn't lose the flow of the story. She also uses a digital timer and makes herself get in three solid hours of writing time every day. If she has to get up for a snack, or answer the phone, or go to the bathroom, or do some research, the timer gets paused until she starts writing again. It sounds like a pretty awesome plan, actually. She said that she uses this technique when she feels like she has to force herself to do anything - cleaning out closets, or folding laundry, or whatever. Decide how much time you are going to commit to it, and then set your timer. I miiiiiiight have to try that out (since I am grossly procrastinating on my thesis writing).
What is your favorite book?
"My favorite book is always the one that I have just finished. And my least favorite book is always the on I am currently working on. Always!"
Do you read your own reviews?
She said that she does sometimes. There have been some online reviews (on Amazon for example) that she found really thoughtful and well-done. But she said that oftentimes, readers fall in love with an author's voice in one book and then want the author to keep retelling that same story so they are frustrated with any different stories or types of material. And then there are some reviews that are just "damn stupid."
Who are your favorite characters?
She mentioned three characters that she just loved and knew that she had to know what their stories were:
1. Bobby Tom Denton (first in It Had to Be You, unfortunately one of the worst cover art situations I have ever seen), then in Heaven, Texas
2. Dean Robillard (first in Match Me if You Can, one of my all-time favorites, and my usual recommendation for where to start with SEP books), then in Natural Born Charmer
3. Finally, of course, Ted Beaudine (we've got him covered)
Did you always want to be an author?
"Oh god no, I wanted to be a movie star! Being an author was my fall back career!" She apparently studied theater in college, and taught high school theater before she started writing. She said she started so she could write the books that she wanted to read. (Loves reading romance books = another BFF point earned).
What romance authors do you love to read?
Jayne Ann Krentz and Kristen Hannah.
So there it is folks! We finished up the Q&A, and then she stuck around to make sure that she signed everything that anyone wanted to get signed, and took pictures with everyone who came (more points, DUHZ). Susan Elizabeth Phillips was already an insta-buy author for me, but getting a chance to meet her and hear her talk about books and her writing, and telling stories really made me love her so much more as an author. If she is going to be anywhere near you in her upcoming tour I highly recommend that you make the effort to go! You won't regret it. I'm not sure how that math for becoming my best friend works out, but she got a LOT of points, so I'm pretty sure its all going to come together nicely. (Note from Flann: So it's over just like that?! Gosh, 10 years down the drain.)
What's next?
Working on a new book but is still pretty early on in the process so she wouldn't share any more than the fact that it will be a total stand alone, which she knows "everyone will moan and groan and whine about."
What is her writing routine?
When she started writing, she decided to approach it like any other job - "just as if I was a secretary and simply had to go to work everyday." She writes everyday, even on weekends, when she can, so she doesn't lose the flow of the story. She also uses a digital timer and makes herself get in three solid hours of writing time every day. If she has to get up for a snack, or answer the phone, or go to the bathroom, or do some research, the timer gets paused until she starts writing again. It sounds like a pretty awesome plan, actually. She said that she uses this technique when she feels like she has to force herself to do anything - cleaning out closets, or folding laundry, or whatever. Decide how much time you are going to commit to it, and then set your timer. I miiiiiiight have to try that out (since I am grossly procrastinating on my thesis writing).
What is your favorite book?
"My favorite book is always the one that I have just finished. And my least favorite book is always the on I am currently working on. Always!"
Do you read your own reviews?
She said that she does sometimes. There have been some online reviews (on Amazon for example) that she found really thoughtful and well-done. But she said that oftentimes, readers fall in love with an author's voice in one book and then want the author to keep retelling that same story so they are frustrated with any different stories or types of material. And then there are some reviews that are just "damn stupid."
Who are your favorite characters?
She mentioned three characters that she just loved and knew that she had to know what their stories were:
1. Bobby Tom Denton (first in It Had to Be You, unfortunately one of the worst cover art situations I have ever seen), then in Heaven, Texas
2. Dean Robillard (first in Match Me if You Can, one of my all-time favorites, and my usual recommendation for where to start with SEP books), then in Natural Born Charmer
3. Finally, of course, Ted Beaudine (we've got him covered)
Did you always want to be an author?
"Oh god no, I wanted to be a movie star! Being an author was my fall back career!" She apparently studied theater in college, and taught high school theater before she started writing. She said she started so she could write the books that she wanted to read. (Loves reading romance books = another BFF point earned).
What romance authors do you love to read?
Jayne Ann Krentz and Kristen Hannah.
So there it is folks! We finished up the Q&A, and then she stuck around to make sure that she signed everything that anyone wanted to get signed, and took pictures with everyone who came (more points, DUHZ). Susan Elizabeth Phillips was already an insta-buy author for me, but getting a chance to meet her and hear her talk about books and her writing, and telling stories really made me love her so much more as an author. If she is going to be anywhere near you in her upcoming tour I highly recommend that you make the effort to go! You won't regret it. I'm not sure how that math for becoming my best friend works out, but she got a LOT of points, so I'm pretty sure its all going to come together nicely. (Note from Flann: So it's over just like that?! Gosh, 10 years down the drain.)
Okay so I instagrammed this one. #imobsessed
Final note, courtesy of The Huffington Post last week. Hopefully this will NEVER be useful...but hey, you never know!: 6 Things You Shouldn't Say To A Runaway Bride.
Thanks for having me!!
No, thank YOU, Maureen, our little intrepid reporter!
Have any of you read Susan Elizabeth Phillips' novels? Thinking of giving them a try?
Have any of you read Susan Elizabeth Phillips' novels? Thinking of giving them a try?
