Blog
On Saturday, October 21st, booklovers and book club members from the New York City Tri-State area convened at Hachette’s sixth annual Book Club Brunch. The event was held at the New York Society for Ethical Culture in a beautiful, spacious room with plenty of comfy seats. Lucky for me, I was able to attend with my good friends and avid readers Cheryl, Mary, Matt and Vivian.
John Shors is the internationally bestselling and award-winning author of BENEATH A MARBLE SKY and UNBOUND, among other works of historical fiction. In an effort to provide readers with an unparalleled travel experience, John launched John Shors Travel in 2014. Through his tour company, he has led small groups of travelers on adventures all over the world to the settings in his novels, including India, China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. In this piece, John talks about the origin of these unique literary tours and how wonderful it has been to travel with his readers.
Tasha Alexander is the author of the Lady Emily mystery series. The latest installment, DEATH IN ST. PETERSBURG, was partly inspired by years of ballet training at the hands of Marie Buczkowski, who, in turn, studied in Paris with Olga Preobrajenska. Preobrajenska, a prima ballerina at Imperial Ballet and a character in Alexander's new novel, fled Russia after the revolution. Madame Buczkowski would be pleased that her former pupil focused on Russian ballet and spent a great deal of time in the Mariinsky Theatre watching the masters at work.
Mark de Castrique is the author of a mystery series featuring Asheville, NC, private eyes Sam Blackman and Nakayla Robertson, an interracial couple and co-owners of the Blackman and Robertson Detective Agency. In this piece, de Castrique explains how a story told to him by a 90-year-old man served as inspiration for BLACKMAN’S COFFIN, the opening novel in the series, and the significance of the William Faulkner quote “The Past is never dead. It’s not even past” in relation to the sixth and latest installment, HIDDEN SCARS, which sees Sam and Nakayla enmeshed in the history of the revolutionary Black Mountain College, which was founded in 1933 and attracted world-renowned educators fleeing Nazi Germany.
Stephen Weeks is a writer, conservationist and filmmaker. For 30 years he lived in a 12th-century castle in Wales, which he restored, and has lived in Prague, Czech Republic for the last 14 years. In this essay, Weeks discusses how he laid his plans for his debut historical mystery series that kicks off with THE COUNTESS OF PRAGUE and introduces readers to Beatrice von Falklenburg (known to her intimates as Trixie), who will lead us from Prague through Europe and occasionally beyond on a 10-book set of investigations that begins in 1904 and finishes in 1914.
The ultimate thrill for any reader is the opportunity to meet an author whose work they enjoy. When I saw an announcement that I could meet Louise Penny, I was ecstatic! I was introduced to Louise’s work long after her series was established; although I had certainly heard of her, I not read any of her books.
Triss Stein is the author of a series of mysteries set in Brooklyn, New York, and featuring Erica Donato, an amateur sleuth who is currently writing her PhD dissertation about changes in city neighborhoods. Conducting research for these books is always fun for Stein, as she has spent most of her adult life living and working in New York City. This was especially true for the fourth and latest installment in the series, BROOKLYN WARS, and here she explains why.
Below are just some of the many authors, industry professionals, booksellers and readers who Carol Fitzgerald met at this year's BookExpo.
Carol Fitzgerald had the pleasure of interviewing the authors who wrote the 2017 BookExpo Buzz books. Below are descriptions of the books, which are sure to get lots of attention when they are published.
Wendy Walker is the bestselling author of the spellbinding and heart-pounding ALL IS NOT FORGOTTEN, which was published last summer and will be available in paperback on July 18th. Her next thriller, EMMA IN THE NIGHT, will be in stores on August 8th. In it, two girls go missing. Three years later, only one comes home. What happened to Emma? This twisty and sharp novel explores what happens to a family when the mother is a narcissist. In our final Mother’s Day Author Blog piece, Wendy (whose own mother is loving and wonderful) shares with us a story of how books helped her fulfill the needs of her son, who always was looking for “something else.”
