Last weekend, I was looking online at the hours of a nearby bookstore (Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park) and found out that there was a YA author event starting in fifteen minutes. I hightailed it over there to catch the Stages on Pages author tour, which is a group of authors who have written books dealing with the performing arts. The authors vary at each tour stop but the ones I had the pleasure of seeing were Jessica Martinez,Stasia Ward Kehoe, Conrad Wesselhoeft, Louise Spiegler, Tara Kelly, and Rosanne Perry. I was a few minutes late getting there and apparently I missed Jessica Martinez playing the violin -- I'm pretty sad about that. Each author read from his/her book and discussed a bit about the plot of their book and how it depicts the arts. Most of the books have to do with music, two with violin and two with rock music but Louise Spiegler's The Jewel and the Key deals with theater (and time travel!) and Stasia Ward Kehoe's Audition is about a dancer.
Stasia Ward Kehoe, Tara Kelly (reading), and Conrad Wesselhoeft | The same three, Louise Spiegler, and Jessica Martinez (reading)
When I got there, Rosanne Perry was discussing the plot of her book, Second Fiddle. She talked a bit about how tough it can be to pitch books to YA boys when the cover is not "boy friendly." Apparently, she's had discussions with male readers who've been intrigued by the plot but turned off by the feminine nature of the cover. After the presentations by the authors were done they asked the audience a few questions and one of them was, "What is more important, cover or title?" It was completely unsurprising to me that the overwhelming answer was cover. After she was done reading, Ms. Perry played a bit of Amazing Grace on the violin before she (quite literally) packed up and ran out. (I'm assuming she had plans and maybe mentioned this to the audience before I got there)
Next up was Louise Spiegler who spoke about her new book, The Jewel and the Key. She grew up doing theater productions in school and her book centers on a girl who can travel through time through a downtown theater. She also told a funny story about how her parents told her that perhaps theater wasn't her calling. In retrospect, she said, they were right because it led her to become both a teacher and a writer, which she loves.
Many of my Goodreads friends rave on about Jessica Martinez's debut novel, Virtuosity, which is the story of a violin prodigy, so I was really excited to hear what she had to say. Later on in the event, she admitted that she never set out to write a YA book, it was just a publisher and/or marketing choice. Martinez is a talented musician herself and told several funny stories about her inspirations for the book. She said, "I love music but I can think of so many reasons why a girl might want to throw her violin off a balcony. So I wrote about those reasons." I'm not a musician at all but I can certainly understand the sentiment of feeling frustrated about something I love. She also told a hilarious story about an instance during her high school years (I presume) when her violin teacher asked if she wanted to play his violin. She shrugged and said she guessed so and after playing the instrument, she remarked that she'd love to someday own an instrument with such a deep sound. He told her she could, if she had 4 MILLION DOLLARS. She was floored and said she couldn't believe he'd been so blase about it. What if she'd tripped?
Next up was Louise Spiegler who spoke about her new book, The Jewel and the Key. She grew up doing theater productions in school and her book centers on a girl who can travel through time through a downtown theater. She also told a funny story about how her parents told her that perhaps theater wasn't her calling. In retrospect, she said, they were right because it led her to become both a teacher and a writer, which she loves.
Many of my Goodreads friends rave on about Jessica Martinez's debut novel, Virtuosity, which is the story of a violin prodigy, so I was really excited to hear what she had to say. Later on in the event, she admitted that she never set out to write a YA book, it was just a publisher and/or marketing choice. Martinez is a talented musician herself and told several funny stories about her inspirations for the book. She said, "I love music but I can think of so many reasons why a girl might want to throw her violin off a balcony. So I wrote about those reasons." I'm not a musician at all but I can certainly understand the sentiment of feeling frustrated about something I love. She also told a hilarious story about an instance during her high school years (I presume) when her violin teacher asked if she wanted to play his violin. She shrugged and said she guessed so and after playing the instrument, she remarked that she'd love to someday own an instrument with such a deep sound. He told her she could, if she had 4 MILLION DOLLARS. She was floored and said she couldn't believe he'd been so blase about it. What if she'd tripped?
Wesselhoeft speaking, Martinez and Spiegler
When Conrad Wesselhoeft took the stage, the first thing he did wake me think about history. He said it was one of his goals to stand on the same stage where a Beatle had stood. It was his lucky day as Paul McCartney has evidently visited Third Place Books and stood on the very stage the authors were sitting on. (cue me wondering who else has stood there!) He read from his debut work, Adios, Nirvana and spoke a little bit about his writing process. Several of the authors on the tour are in the same writing group, which I found rather interesting. After Wesselhoeft finished speaking, Tara Kelly read from her second book, Amplified, which came out this month. Unbeknownst to me (read: I totally forgot), I'd read her debut work Harmonic Feedback. One of my book clubs picked her new book as our November group read, I'm just waiting for my copy to get processed through the library so I can join them. Kelly said she feels a bit naked without her guitar and decided to set Amplified in Santa Cruz because of the quirky population. She said she once saw a person dressed as death going into a Denny's while she was in college in the area, which definitely made me chuckle. Interestingly, hers was the only book whose title was changed from her original title before publication.
The last author to speak was Stasia Ward Kehoe, whose verse work Audition was recently released by Viking. I think I might listen to too many audiobooks because I actually wrote down in my notes, "I'd love to listen to this woman read me an audiobook." How creepy is that? (Note to Ms. Kehoe: If your book turns into an audiobook, READ IT YOURSELF!) The plotline of her book deals with a small town dancer who gets a scholarship to a big city dancing school. Big fish to small fish. I'm not usually interested in books written in verse but I don't know if I can resist. (plus it sounds a bit like Center Stage which is a total guilty pleasure of mine)
The last author to speak was Stasia Ward Kehoe, whose verse work Audition was recently released by Viking. I think I might listen to too many audiobooks because I actually wrote down in my notes, "I'd love to listen to this woman read me an audiobook." How creepy is that? (Note to Ms. Kehoe: If your book turns into an audiobook, READ IT YOURSELF!) The plotline of her book deals with a small town dancer who gets a scholarship to a big city dancing school. Big fish to small fish. I'm not usually interested in books written in verse but I don't know if I can resist. (plus it sounds a bit like Center Stage which is a total guilty pleasure of mine)
Sadly, I didn't win any of their giveaways but I got a super awesome prize--It turns out that Lish McBride (I WANT THE NEW NECROMANCER BOOK NOW!) and Holly Cupala were sitting a row in front of me! So cool to see those two in real life.
New books on my radar, lots of interesting information, and a fun afternoon all around. See if they're coming anywhere near you on their tour! (There are several other authors that hop on and off the tour)
New books on my radar, lots of interesting information, and a fun afternoon all around. See if they're coming anywhere near you on their tour! (There are several other authors that hop on and off the tour)
