Blog
Charles J. Shields spent five years researching and writing AND SO IT GOES: Kurt Vonnegut, A Life. He is also the author of MOCKINGBIRD: A Portrait of Harper Lee (Holt 2006) --- a New York Times bestseller. Two years ago, he co-founded the 400-member Biographers International Organization (BIO), and is currently associate director of the Great Lives program, which features presentations by 18-20 biographers each year at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. Shields and his wife, Guadalupe, reside in Barboursville, Virginia. Here he talks about a gift he received in college while struggling to write.
This past weekend, I had the privilege of attending the Miami Book Fair, one of the best-run book fairs in the country (and one of the biggest—seriously, if you are a book fan, you owe it to yourself to save up for a vacation to this yearly event; it’s well worth it). One of the great things about it is how friendly they are to graphic novels. In fact, they have a pretty large and significant comics presence at the fair, with panels running all weekend long.
Keija Parssinen was born in Saudi Arabia and lived there for twelve years as a third-generation expatriate. She is a graduate of Princeton University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she received a Truman Capote fellowship, a Teaching and Writing fellowship, and a Michener-Copernicus award for her first novel, The Ruins of Us, forthcoming from Harper Perennial in North America and Faber & Faber in the UK, Ireland, South Africa, and Australia in January 2012. Here she talks about the gold bracelets her mother gave her when her family left Saudi Arabia and moved to the United States.
Teresa's romances regularly appear on the New York Times, Publishers Weekly and USA Today bestseller lists. She's a two-time winner of the Waldenbooks Award for Bestselling Fiction, a seven-time finalist for the highest award given by the Romance Writers of America, the RITA, and winner of the Romantic Times Award for Best Historical Love and Laughter. Here she talks about how her mother inspired her lifelong passion for reading.
Alyson Richman graduated from Wellesley College in 1994. The acclaimed author of THE MASK CARVER'S SON, she lives in Long Island, New York, with her family. Here she talks about one of the first book-gifts she ever received, THE SAND LADY by Gwendolyn Reed.
NY Times bestselling author Kim Edwards has written a number of short stories as well as two novels, THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER and her latest, THE LAKE OF DREAMS. She has received many accolades for her work, including The Kentucky Literary Award, The British Book Award, and The Whiting Writer's Award. Here she talks about her lifelong passion for books and some occasions on which she has received them as gifts.
This was my 7th Miami Book Fair. It’s getting to feels like it would not be November without attending the Fair. There’s something nice about wearing sandals one last time while zipping from author event to author event. This was the first time we saw any rain at the Fair, but given the whacky weather I have experienced all year this year, I was not surprised. There even was snow in Miami, but you will have to read on to see why THAT happened when temps were in the 70s.
While vacation this year never hit the relaxing “drop into the zone” pace that I love, I did do some great reading, which will make even the craziest of vacations become a memorable one!
The Book Report Network celebrates 15 years this weekend. And while I have a flood of memories that float through me when I think of this decade and a half, it’s hard for me to crystallize the excitement and joy that has come from building and running this company in a few paragraphs. Thus I asked Greg, my older son --- who was just six when we launched the first site and has been working with us part-time for a few years now --- to write a piece from his perspective instead. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.
I read a piece in the New York Times yesterday about how some indie stores are now charging for store events. You can read it here.
